No more heroes: The red team
by CadenGallic
Summary: Travis has conquered the UAA, not once, but twice. But now he faces his greatest challenge yet, as he must square off against nine soldiers of a powerful group. They are known only as, The red team. Completed.
1. Chapter 1: Sylvia's call

Chapter 1: Sylvia's call

The time was 2AM. The dusty arena was silent as the two opponents stood opposite each other. One, dressed in a trench coat as grey as the dust itself, beam katana in hand, glowing in the perfect dark, standing tall and strong as he faced his opponent. Said opponent, dressed in a blood red suit, a mask covering most of his face, a knife in his right hand, stained with fresh blood. With his free hand, he took out a cigarette and put it between his lips, replacing the box with a lighter. The small plume of smoke rose into the sky, the light from the cigarette dimming as the suited man breathed in and out.

"Well…you're just as good as the record said." Admitted Henry Cooldown, is Irish accent making it sound like the two were old friends.

"But of course" replied the Spy, in his smug French tone, breathing out a puff of smoke from the cylinder in his mouth. "I believe that is what why you challenged me." Henry nodded in reply.

"It's not entirely for my own benefit. I'm here on behalf of my once wife." The Spy's eyebrows raised in intrest.

"So what do you want from me?" he cut to the point. Henry gave a sly grin.

"We want you to work for us."

It was 7AM by the time Travis reared his head up from the pillow. It was another dull morning in Santa Destroy. It'd been a grand total of 10 months since Travis had conquered the rankings a second time to achieve vengeance for the loss of his dear friend Bishop. Travis still had nightmares of getting Bishop's head through the window in that blood soaked paper bag. He'd seen some horrific shit in this time, what with his various gruesome kills of assassins, but that was still shocking to this very day. He got up and tried to clear his head of these thoughts when suddenly the phone rang. He snatched it up.

"Hello?"

"Hello Travis." Came that seductive French accent that Travis knew and loved oh so well.

"Hey. You've not called in ages." He replied, trying his hardest to be smooth and failing at it badly.

"Yes i…I've been trying to get the UAA back on its feet after Batt's death." Travis nodded. He smiled triumphantly, remembering how he knocked that annoying shit out of the window and then cut him in two. So damn satisfying… Though this revival of the UAA was definitely troubling. Travis had taken that establishment down for its mistreating of the assassins.

"So how's it going?"

"Quite well actually. We've found a new company willing to fund us. Have you ever heard of Mann .co?" Travis had as a matter of fact. They'd started up in the 1950's and deployed weapons all over the world. He'd googled them after he saw an ad for them on the auction site, where he acquired his beam katana.

"So, got any new assassins?"

"Yes. Nine of them actually. They're quite an interesting group really." Travis smirked. Maybe he would have a reason to go back into the ranks after all.

"So what're you calling for?"

"Well Travis…I wanted to ask you a favour." Travis raised an eyebrow and waited for her to continue. "You see, thanks to our initial collapse, we've lost a lot of popularity among the masses. I'd be ever so greatful if you'd go back into the rankings to give us a little publicity." Travis frowned and creases appeared in his forehead.

"Sylvia, don't you remember what I said to you on that rooftop? Assassins are human beings and I am not entering back again to be your pawn and kill them!" his apartment room practically shook from his loud voice. He was about to slam the phone down.

"Wait Travis! We've taken this into account!" she begged.

"Oh?"

"Yes. Mann co. have provided us with something to allow the competition to be somewhat safer." Travis was three seconds from calling bullshit. Safer battles to the death? How the fuck was that possible?

"Yeah?"

"We've got a new policy. The danger of death is no longer a problem."

"The hell…"

"Mann co. have provided us with a special machine called a 'Spawner'."

"A Spawner?"

"Yes. Anyone who dies during the assassin battles is revived shortly afterward. They will still lose of course, but the battles will be much safer." Travis had to admit he liked the idea. Hell, this'd probably encourage more assassins to join the ranks.

"But what if they hold a grudge?"

"Before we're letting anyone fight, we'll make them sign a contract, restricting them from trying to take revenge on their opponents or the Spawner will be turned off when we kill them." Travis hummed for a short while, mulling over the idea. "And of course… you have a more tempting prise waiting at the top of the ranks." She teased.

"You…you mean…"

"Yes Travis. Exactly that." Travis whooped with excitement

"Hell yeah! Number 1, here I come!" Sylvia giggled.

"Very good. Well, come down to the UAA building so we can get the paperwork signed and get you set up."

Travis didn't need telling twice. He slipped on his familiar jacket, jeans and even his sunglasses. He scoured under his bed and found his beam katana, dusty from not being used all that much. But it was guarded by a pair of yellow eyes. Travis knew those eyes. He also knew how to sway the weapons guardian out. He rummaged around in some drawers and found a piece of string, feeding it under the bed. A paw batted at it and Travis reeled it in quickly, bringing the guardian with it.

Jean meowed as she batted at the string. She was starting to put on weight again. He'd have to start exercising her again. But for now, he let the cat enjoy her string, stroking between her ears as he reached under the bed, pulling out his trusty companion. He clipped it to his belt and left his apartment, locking the door as he left, rushing off to the UAA building.

Jeane stared at the door as her master left, wondering where he was off to. But she was troubled by something even bigger than that when a strange man materialised in the corner of the room. He grinned conspicuously and took out a cigarette.

"So… this is my target."


	2. Chapter 2: Fight like a man

Chapter 2: Fight like a man

**Rank 10: The Soldier**

"**You are all weak! You are all bleeders!"**

Travis first went over to Dr Naomi's. If he was going to have to get around town again, he'd need his ride. She'd been keeping it safe for him ever since his last run of the rankings, but he hadn't seen her in a while. He banged on the door to her warehouse and eventually she let him in. She looked as appealing as ever, yellow glasses, fluffy black hair in a ponytail and the deepest clea that Travis had ever seen, barely covered by her top. Her black and yellow shorts were present, as well as those black high heel boots.

"Oh…its you." She said and opened the door for him. "Come in but I have a guest so don't interrupt us." Travis grinned. Same old Naomi. He followed her inside, watching her a sway from side to side as the entered her main lab. And there it was. The Schpeltiger, just as he had left it. It was dusty sure, but nothing a quick trip around the town couldn't fix.

"Mighty fine vehicle right there." Came a southern voice from behind the bike. The voice belonged to a man in brown dungarees, covering his red shirt. He wore yellow gloves on both hands and had a wrench in his right hand. His head was covered by a yellow hardhat and he wore goggles covering his eyes.

"This the guy you're talking to?" he asked Naomi. She just nodded blankly and took her seat again.

"So like I was saying, it could be improved if you just increased the output ratio by 20 percent." The man in the hardhat told her. Travis decided to make a break for it before his ears bled from all their technical jargon. He clambered aboard his steel steed and revved the engine. Felt so good to be riding this beast again. The Schpeltiger rocketed out of the doors and into the streets. The man in the hard hat watched him go.

"Heh…that boy's got some flare all right…"

Travis dominated the streets, no other traffic dared challenge him on his mad machine. After some time, he arrived at the UAA's main building. It had been refurbished since Travis had been here last. It looked brand spanking new, with clean windows, clean concrete walls and they even had an automatic door now. Travis liked automatic doors. He strode through them and into the foyer, where he was lead to an elevator, taking him up to Sylvia's office. She was waiting for him in that classic black leather chair.

"So nice to see you again Travis." She cooed as he took a seat.

"Good to be back I suppose. Now, who am I killing?"

"I told you, you need to fill out the forms first." She tapped some documents on her desk. Travis groaned. He went over, grabbed a pen that was lying around nearby and started filling them in. It took him about ten minutes and he made a number of mistakes, but Sylvia seemed to be alright with that.

"Ok, NOW who am I killing?"

"Must you always be so straight to business?" she asked with a petit sigh. But she digressed. "Your first opponent is the new rank 10, a man called 'The Soldier'."

"The Soldier?" Travis asked. "Why would anyone pick a shit name like that?"

"Ask him not me." She replied curtly. "He's waiting for you on the outskirts of town."

"Right right." Travis replied getting up to leave. "Oh, and Syl?"

"Yes?"

"Keep those goods warm. I won't be long." He smirked and then left. Sylvia merely smiled as he left. What a fun few weeks this would be.

The Schpeltiger ate up the road as Travis headed for the outskirts. He hadn't been out here since his fight with Ryuji. He doubted the place had changed when he'd last been there. As he drew closer, he spotted the shillouette of a figure in the morning light.

"That must be him. That soldier guy." Travis skidded to a halt and dismounted his bike, approaching the figure, one hand on his beam katana. The figure was dressed in red, wearing some kind of army helmet over his head. It wasn't strapped up though. Over his chest was a belt with at least three grenades pinned to it. He had a belt around his waist too, with two bags on either side of it. Travis was certain he could spy a shovel and a shotgun strung through the belt on either side. His trousers were black and he wore heavy looking combat boots. In his left hand, he was holding some kind of big metal cylinder. He looked up to Travis, not that Travis could really see, the helmet kept his eyes covered.

"What's your name son?" he called out in a gruff voice.

"Travis. Travis motherfucking Touchdown!" he announced, trying to make himself seem impressive. The man snorted.

"So. You're my opposition?" Travis frowned. Was this guy out of the loop or something?

"Yeah I am! So you'd better be ready to get slaughtered!" The Soldier sneered.

"You are the sorriest excuse for an assassin I have ever seen!" he mocked. "I've seen cupcakes tougher than you!" Now Travis was pissed.

"Shut the fuck up old man! What the hell do you know, we haven't even started fighting yet!" he growled, taking out his beam katana and activating it.

"Can you fight like a man, private twinkle toes?" shouted the soldier, hefting his cylinder on his shoulder, and holding some kind of trigger. Travis knew what it was now. It was a rocket launcher. And a big one at that.

"You know it! I'm more of a man than you'll ever be!" The Soldier snorted again.

"You are not welcome in my world! Now prepare to die!" and with that he aimed his mighty weapon at Travis and fired. The missile flew through the air, fast as hell. Travis only just had enough time to get out of its path before it reached him. He began to charge on The Soldier but another rocket came flying at him. Travis ducked under it, only to see a third flying at him. Travis leapt up and dived behind a rock, much to the enjoyment of The Soldier.

"You are weak! You are a bleeder!" The Soldier mocked, using this chance to reload. Travis could hear him reloading and took his chance to close the gap a little. As he got closer, The Soldier fired another shot at him. Travis swerved to one side and kept charging. If he could get close enough, he'd be able to stop The Soldier attacking. Missiles at close range rarely went well. He was getting closer, but The Soldier fired at him again. Travis rolled under his shot and was within striking distance now. The Soldier realised this and dropped his rocket launcher, drawing the shovel from his belt instead.

"Come at me!" he taunted, meeting Travis head on. Their two weapons clashed. Travis thought he had the advantage now, but he was completely wrong. As he brought his beam katana back for another slash, The Soldier beat him too it and smacked him in the face with the shovels end. Travis groaned and stumbled back, holding his bleeding jaw.

"Take your lumps like a man, private twinkle toes!" The Soldier taunted, hitting the shovel off of his helmet, making it spin.

"You fucker…" Travis looked up at him, his eyes laced with hatred. "I'm gonna make you pay for that!" he charged at The Soldier again, lunging at him. The Soldier leaped back to dodge and tried to score another hit to his head. But Travis was ready this time and used his beam katana to block it, before kicking The Soldier in the stomach.

"Oof!" he exclaimed, stumbling backward. Travis took the opportunity to try another attack but The Soldier managed to block again. Travis had to disarm him if he wanted any chance of winning this fight. He had an idea how to do so too. He backed off a little, giving his opponent a chance to attack, again trying to smash his brains in. But Travis not only blocked him, he flicked his blade up, causing The Soldier to let go of his weapon, sailing over his head and landing a good way behind him. This had to be it now, Travis though as he tried to jab his blade through the man's chest. But The Soldier had other plans. Namely, taking one of the grenades from his belt and dropping it right at Travis' feet. Travis looked down and went wide eyed, running like fuck to get away from the explosion. He only just managed, but it gave his opponent time to draw his shotgun and take aim. Travis only just realised in time and raised his beam katana to block. Only problem was, this blow caused its power to go out and the katana deactivated.

"Shit!" Travis exclaimed and he looked for cover. He made for a rocky outcrop as The Soldier bore down on him, firing over and over, trying to land a shot with no avail. Travis dived behind the rock and shook his beam katana, recharging it as fast as he could.

He froze in place as he felt cool gunmetal press against his head.

"It's over son." Sneered The Soldier. "Just put the weapon down and die like a man." Travis grimaced. He mulled the situation over in his head. There had to be some way out of this. There always was. He glanced at his beam katana. It was charged enough for reactivating now…

He slowly went to put his weapon down, leaning to his left. The Soldier kept his shotgun on him. But then, as quick as a flash, Travis punched the man's hand, shifting the gun's position to just above his head. Before The Soldier could react, Travis activated his beam katana and brought it down on the man's arm, severing it completely. The Soldier screamed in pain and Travis stabbed him through the chest. His words gurgled in his throat and he fell back, clutching the painful wound. Travis was about to deal the finishing blow, when he drew another grenade from his collection and yanked out the pin.

"C'mere cupcake!" he sneered as Travis ran for his life as the grenade exploded, sending bits and pieces of the man flying in all directions. Travis looked back and gave a mock salute to the scorched ground where the man had once lay.

At that moment, Sylvia showed up, flanked by Talbot and Weller.

"Excellent Work Travis. You are now ranked 10th." Travis smiled.

"Thanks Sylvia. So, when do I get my next target?"

"Patience Travis. Take some time to rest. You'll need it for the fights ahead."

"Yeah yeah." He griped, clambering back on to the Schpeltiger and riding away into the distance. Sylvia watched him go, then looked back to the exploded limbs of The Soldier.

"If he keeps this up, we'll be back on our feet in no time…"


	3. Chapter 3: Leaping Gazelle

Chapter 3: Leaping gazelle

**Rank 9: The Scout**

"**I'm runnin' circles around ya!"**

It was another three days till Travis received his next call from Sylvia. He used the time to laze about, watch that new Bizarre Jelly 5 episode he'd been meaning to get around to, and helping Jean to burn off some of those pounds with the help of her favourite toy mouse and that little bell she loved so much. But when the call did come, he was slightly relieved. He hated to admit it, but there was fuck all going on in his life, and it was getting dull fast. He snatched the receiver.

"Travis? Are you well?" Oh how he adored that accent…

"Been better…what is it?"

"Your next match has been set up. Head over to the pier, he'll be expecting you." And she hung up quickly, to get back to her yoga class. Of course, Travis was oblivious to this. Travis suited up, took a shit and then left.

The pier had only recently been built. It was something of an odd structure, multiple beams lacing its underside. Nothing had been built on it yet, but apparently a restaurant was planned or something like that. Travis pulled over the Schpeltiger and hopped off, beam katana in hand. He couldn't see his opponent, but walked onto the pier to wait for him. He waited…and waited…and waited.

"Down here, chuckle nuts!" came an irritating Boston-like voice from below him. He looked down through a hole in the wood and spotted the owner of the voice. He looked quite young, with a cap on his head and a headset over it. He had a red shirt on and some kind of backpack strapped over his left shoulder. He had grey short trousers on and trainers covering his white socks. He also had some metal dog tags round his neck and a metal bat in his hand, bandages ensnaring his hands. What, was he in the army and a baseball player or something? Regardless, Travis swung off the side of the pier onto one of its many twisting wooden beams below.

"So, what're you supposed to be?" His opponent seemed to laugh as if he didn't believe him.

"Do you have any idea, any idea who I am?" he asked with a smug grin.

"Nope. Never seen you before."

"What's the matter, you freakin' stupid?" he retorted.

"No! You're the one who's stupid!"

"Ooh hoo hoo! You're scarin' me tough guy!" Travis' teeth ground together.

"You are so fucking dead!" and with that, he drew his beam katana and charged. The youth just stood there and grinned as he took out what looked like a baseball.

"Play ball!" he shouted as he tossed the ball into the air and smacked it with his bat, sending it flying at Travis. Travis stopped as his mind flashed back to his various visits to the Santa Destroy stadium. Maybe he could use that trick here. He stood stock still and swung his beam katana at the ball as it got close, sending it hurtling back to the young man.

"Ah crap!" he exclaimed as it socked him in the stomach. Travis grinned in triumph, but it was short lived as the young man put away his bat and took out a scattergun. Travis cursed loudly and tried to chase down his opponent before he had a chance to fire. But one thing Travis had not thought of was his opponents speed.

In seconds, the youth was running backward at an abnormally fast pace, putting plenty of distance between him and Travis. This gave him plenty of time to bring up his scattergun and start firing. Travis took a defensive stance and blocked some of his shots, the others missing him. He considered chasing the youth, but he knew it'd be fruitless. He was faster and had a gun; Travis would have to keep stopping if he chased him. He needed a plan. And he needed one fast, as the young man was running along a side beam now, shooting at him from the left. An idea formed in his head and when the young man stopped to reload. Travis stepped back a little…then leaped for the other beam. He landed with a thud and quickly lunged at the youth, but he was ready and blocked with his metal bat.

"It's startin' to bore me how much you suck!" taunted the youth as with one swift movement, his bat smacked Travis in the face. "BONK!" he yelled as his shot hit home. Travis stumbled back, clutching his mouth as blood spilled out. He spat out a tooth and looked at the young man with a look of white hot hatred.

"You little piece of shit!" he screeched and came at him again, this time much faster and stronger than before. The two clashed atop the wooden beam, blow after blow never hitting home. But Travis feinted to the left and then slashed to the right. But the youth quickly leapt back before he hit and pulled out a pistol, aiming at Travis' head. He barely had enough time to bring his beam katana up to block, and then the boy was on the run again.

"I am owning you! You're gettin' dominated pal!" A vein in Travis' forehead throbbed. This guy was really pissing him off now. He had to turn the tables on him somehow. But how? So long as he could move quickly and block his attacks, Travis couldn't do squat. He had to stop him moving somehow…and these beams might just be able to help him. He kept his beam katana up to block the youths shots as he leapt, almost gracefully, from beam to beam, keeping his focus on Travis. Travis slowly advanced and waited for his opportunity. The youth ran across a beam, parallel to his position…and that's when Travis dropped his guard, jumped off the end of his beam and towards the youth. He simply side stepped, assuming Travis was trying to grab his legs. But he was gravely mistaken. Travis, with his free hand, grabbed the beam, and with his other, embedded it into the youth's leg. He heard a scream of pain above and smiled, pulling himself up. His blade had cut deep and the boy was now moving with a limp. This would stop him running for sure.

"Ok, this does not look good here, um…" he mumbled, his confidence and cockiness melting away. Travis knew it was time to strike back. He swung his katana at him, only for his opponent to draw his bat and block him. He thwacked Travis in the side, but he didn't care because it gave him time to stab at the youth's arm, cutting through the tender flesh like a knife through butter.

"My aaaaaarm!" he screamed, stumbling back as the bloody limb dropped to the beach.

"Oh you'll have lost more than that in a second you little shit!" Travis struck into his chest, before bringing the blade straight up, slicing through the youth's chest and head in one fell swoop. It was quite grotesque as blood spurted from the corpse's sides falling apart, so Travis kicked him in the leg so he fell off, into the water below. The body stained the clear water red, and Travis grinned down. It was so damn satisfying to shut that little punk up for good. He shut off his glowing weapon and crawled back up to the top of the pier. A familiar female face was waiting for him.

"Astounding as ever Travis. You are now ranked 9th."

"Thanks. Boy, he was irritating."

"Well what matters is you killed him. I'll see you around." She gave him a surreptitious wink before she left, leaving Talbot and Weller to fish out the dead youth. Travis leaped aboard his mechanical steed and sped home. It was at this time, a certain individual wearing a suit beside Sylvia de-activated his cloaking device and lit up a cigarette.

"He is quite the challenger no?" she asked the suited man.

"Yes. He has already cut down those two. Not that they were anything special."

"He could get to the top again you know."

"If he does, I will be prepared. Everyone falters when they have a knife in their back."


	4. Chapter 4: The Red Dot

Chapter 4: The red dot

**Rank 8: The Sniper**

"**Piss off, big head!"**

It was about a week before Travis got any more calls from Sylvia. He used this time wisely, and went to Ryan's Gym to pump himself up some. Ryan was of course happy to see him, considering Travis had not come in for a few months. The two sparred for a little while, Ryan asking Travis if he could feel the adrenaline rush. Travis had never questioned Ryan's sexuality, as for while it seemed pretty obvious what he was, who knew, he might just be feminine. Not that Travis cared. Still, he missed his training with Thunder Ryu. After an hour or so, Travis finally left, feeling stronger.

"Come back soon! I want to pump you up!" Ryan called after him, and Travis couldn't help but wince. But he felt a little better when he spotted that revealing beige coat that could only belong to Sylvia, waiting for him outside.

"Had fun in there Travis?" she teased and he frowned.

"What of it?"

"Well, your next match is set up."

"Good. So, where have I got to go?"

"Actually…your match has already begun." She said cryptically. Travis raised an eyebrow.

"Mind explaining that?"

"You'll learn yourself, soon enough." She walked back over to her limousine that Travis had failed to notice. "Good luck Travis!" And with that, the car sped off. A little too quickly for Travis' liking. His katana was out, and he took up a fighting stance, turning in a circle, expecting an assassin to jump him. But there was no-one there. Just him. He continued to observe…what the hell was this?

Meanwhile, in a tall, handsome, abandoned block of flats, someone was setting up. He wore a brown Stetson that covered most of his hair except his sideburns. He wore spectacles, that had an almost orange tinge to them. He had some stubble around his mouth; he'd been meaning to shave but not had the time. He wore a brown vest over his red long sleeve shirt and his plain grey trousers were oddly fitting for the dark environment. He settled himself down on an old crate and rested his sniper rifle on the lip of the window. He peered into the sights, and found his target with the spiky black hair.

"Steady…" he murmured to himself as he honed in on the boy's head, put his finger to the trigger, and slowly squeezed…

Travis was getting annoyed now. He'd been standing around and there was no sign of anyone. Was this some kind of joke? He grumbled and leaned against an old brick wall. It was then he felt something. Something strange… as if…someone was watching him. He looked around…still nothing. Then, he noticed the shining red dot on his forehead. His eyes widened and he quickly hit the deck, as a bullet whizzed and hit the wall. Travis understood now. His opponent had some kind of long range weapon and his sights set on Travis. This was anything but good. Travis got up quickly and made for the nearest piece of cover he could find. He had no idea where this sniper was, but any cover was better than none.

"Bugger…" muttered the assailant, watching Travis move. He aimed for his leg to see if he could stop him running. He fired, and narrowly missed.

Travis rolled behind a big concrete building. He'd heard the other shot miss his leg. That told him something. He waited behind cover for a while…but no new shots. Travis grinned, now knowing which direction his opponent was aiming from. Now all he had to do was get over to him without being seen. No easy feat, but so long as he looked out for that dot, he figured he'd be ok. He shuffled to the left side of the building and moved along it slowly, keeping a lookout for the sneaky sniper.

The Sniper set his sights back slightly to get a broader view. He was hoping his opponent hadn't spotted his position. Just then, he spotted his opponent sneaking along the sides of the building. The Sniper chuckled and zoomed in.

"Gotcha…"

Travis, in a split second, was back on the ground, scuttling behind something, looking out for the red dot. This was terrifying. He was hiding for his life and he didn't even know where his attacker was hiding. He couldn't keep doing this… he had to get closer and fight this guy at close range. But where was he?

There was only one thing for it. Travis quickly got up and ran for more cover. He heard a shot ricochet past his head as he ducked behind a tall block of flats. He was safe…for now.

The Sniper growled. "This job's harder than I expected…" he decided to move to a higher floor, taking his effects with him. Now that he was higher up, he had a better view of the battlefield. Now he waited. Waited for his target to reappear.

Travis made another dash for it, but this time, The Sniper had anticipated it. As he ran for the next bit of cover, The Sniper turned his attention to Travis' left leg. He took his shot and smiled as a red stain splashed onto the sidewalk.

Travis yelped as his foot exploded into deep pain. He fell forwards, top half behind the wall and dragged himself behind it. The bullet had struck his ankle and his foot was soaked in blood. He wasn't running anytime soon with this. He swore loudly and tried to prop himself against the wall. Surely it was over now. The second he stepped out into cover, he was a dead man walking. Or rather, not walking.

The Sniper was grinning like a Cheshire cat. He also thought it was over now. With his target unable to run, it'd make it that much easier to blow his head off. He aimed at the building where Travis hid. And waited…and waited…and waited. But Travis did not appear. But he was a patient man. He could wait. As long as it took…

Travis was scared. He didn't want to admit it but he was. He didn't think he could survive this battle. In anger, he slashed at the wall, leaving a deep gouge in it. That was when he felt it. A powerful energy coursing through him. He knew this power. And he now knew a way he could fight back. "Strawberry on the shortcake…" he muttered with a grin.

The Sniper continued to wait on Travis. He was surprised he hadn't accepted defeat and stepped out to die. But then he did step out, right into his view. But before he could pull the trigger, he realised something. Travis had spotted him. And the next thing he saw was a ball of energy, hurtling towards him. He ducked back into the building to avoid the flurry of energy balls, cascading into his window. He swore under his breath. He knew this would give his opponent time to reach him. He had to get ready for his arrival.

Travis limped toward the building where his attacked was, shooting energy balls up at the building to keep his sights off of him. He reached the door and sliced it in two, hobbling into the foyer. There were two staircases, one to his left and one to his right. He was moving over to the right, when he spotted a man on top of a nearby balcony. A man with a sniper rifle, aiming at his head. Travis hit the floor and the shot barely missed.

"Keep still ya bloody drongo!" The Sniper yelled as he reloaded.

"Fuck you!" Travis retorted, getting back up and making for the stairs, throwing himself to the left to avoid another shot. He scrambled up the steps as was now on the same level as The Sniper. He took another shot but now Travis could block it. The Sniper flinched and made a break for it, running into the next room. Travis grinned. He had him now. He limped into the next room, where he found his opponent trying to climb out the window. But seeing Travis, he gave up and drew a Kukri from behind him.

"Come on… lets see watcha got." He tautned, and Travis stumbled towards him. Their weapons clashed as The Sniper proved himself to be somewhat capable in close combat, but no match for Travis. He kept up his blocks for a while, but then he slipped up and Travis pushed him back, causing him to fall.

"Ah…piss." He muttered as the beam katana pierced his chest…and again…and again until Travis was satisfied he was dead. He kicked the corpse in anger and limped out of the building, cursing the man for injuring him as he had.

As usual, Sylvia was waiting outside.

"Congratulations Travis. You are now ranked-"

"I don't care!" he interjected harshly. "I'm just gonna go home and heal up, alright?"

"But, you next battle is-"

"Fuck my next match! My ankle is still bleeding!" he growled and shuffled home, with a stern look from Sylvia haunting him.


	5. Chapter 5: Schadenfreude

Chapter 5: Schadenfreude

**Rank 7: The Medic**

"**Another successful procedure"**

Travis spent some time maxing and relaxing while his foot healed up. He played with Jeane a little to pass the time, using that little mouse toy she loved so much. Travis cracked a smile at his furry companion while she just licked her paws. Then the phone rang and his frown returned.

"Yes?"

"Travis, your next fight is set up." Travis grumbled something.

"Syl…before you say anything else, I want to ask you something."

"Oh? What is it?"

"What happened to you and me? I mean it's been months since you called. What the hell?" He could hear Sylvia's breathing as she though this over.

"I'd rather not discuss is Travis. Anyway, go to the hospital roof, he's waiting for you."

"Sylvia, wait!" Travis yelled into the phone. But she had hung up. He swore loudly and slammed the thing back on its receiver. She was dodging his questions…for now anyway. Maybe she'd open up once he got to the top again. In any case, he had a job to do. He brushed his teeth, snatched up his beam katana and made for the door.

Travis had considered going to the hospital after his fight with The Sniper, but he'd never done it. They'd ask questions about where the bullet came from and who shot him. He couldn't afford to answer either. Still, with his leg in the state that it was, it may have been worth it. Oh well, too late now.

He was about to enter the lift, when he remembered something. A flashback from his fight with Skelter Helter. The guy knew he was coming, and if Travis hadn't set up a decoy, he'd have been dead. Maybe he could do that again…

He grabbed one of those metal stands the doctors use to put bags of fluids on, and draped a white coat over it. He then put it in the lift and went round to find some stairs. It'd hurt like hell with his ankle, but it was better than being dead.

Finally, he reached the rooftop. He saw the open lift with his decoy still inside…and still intact. He raised an eyebrow.

"Achtung!" came a loud Germanic voice from his left. He turned and saw his opponent. Not the usual type of person he expected. He was wearing a big white coat, like a doctor would. Travis could also spot a red tie around his neck under his collar. He had a red cross stitched on his arm, and wore black baggy trousers over black boots. He also had a red pair of rubber gloves and two straps running vertically over his chest, attaching to some strange device on his back. He wore circular rimmed spectacles and had black hair with a high fringe. The doctor looked him over.

"So…I got to fight a doctor now hm?" muttered Travis.

"Ja." Replied the medic. "Und who are you?"

"Travis…Travis Touchdown!" he announced with pride. The doctor looked puzzled for a moment.

"You know…you sound familiar." He said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Now that Travis thought about it, this Germanic doctor sounded kind of familiar too.

"Yeah…you do too. Weird." He drew his beam katana. "Whatever, I came to fight." He limped forward, and the doctor tutted.

"Nein! This is unacceptable!" Travis' eyes widened as he took out some weird kind of gun and flicked a switch on it. Travis cursed loudly. There was no way he's survive this. The doctor pulled the trigger and a red glow enveloped him…

…but it didn't hurt. The strange gun wasn't hurting him. What could that mean? Suddenly, the raging pain in his foot subsided. He looked down at his leg. All the blood was gone. His ankle was completely healed.

"That's better." Said the doctor with a smile.

"What…the hell was that?"

"Medigun. Heals all wounds." He answered as if it were obvious. "I refuse to fight someone in a terrible condition like yours." Travis smirked. He'd found a worthy opponent for a change.

"Well…thanks doc." He grinned. "I still have to kill you though." He brought his beam katana back up.

"Of course dumbkopf." He replied, putting down his medigun and taking out another strange looking gun. "But I am a doctor of both healing and hurting!" a crooked grin appeared on his face.

"We'll see about that…" and he charged at the doctor, instantly regretting it. The doctor's weapon was a strange one, shooting what looked like syringes. Travis felt tons of needles peppering his skin, puncturing his clothes. He began pulling them out, as the doctor pulled out a saw and charged on him. Travis abandoned getting rid of the needles and brought his beam katana into a block. The doctor was quite quick with his weapon, swinging and jabbing at Travis. But Travis was just as fast, blocking every strike and even scoring some hits on his opponent. The doctor backed off and whipped out his syringe gun again. Travis was ready this time and he rolled to the left to dodge the hail of needles. He sprang back up as the doctor reloaded and charged. The doctor got his saw out again and slashed at Travis' arm. Travis managed to block, but the doctor was too quick and slashed again, making a deep gash in Travis' arm. He yelped and dropped his weapon, clutching his shoulder. The doctor grinned maliciously and brought his saw up for another strike, to Travis' head. But Travis rolled out of the way just in time and the doctor's saw hit the concrete. Travis reclaimed his weapon and got back up, trying to ignore the pain of his shoulder. The doctor could see his opponent was in pain, and he decided to use the opportunity, drawing his needle gun.

"Auf Wiedersehen! Shwinehund!" And he let loose a flurry of needles. But this time, Travis had a plan. He spun his beam katana in his hand, fast as lightning, somehow blocking every needle that fired at him. The doctor grimaced as he backed off, forced to reload. Now Travis was on the offensive, slashing at the doctor, who raised his saw to block. They clashed again and again, the doctor not noticing the edge of the roof behind him. Time seemed to slow as the medic stepped back, his foot stepping onto thin air, beginning to fall downward. He quickly grabbed the ledge as he fell, hanging from the tall hospital. Travis looked down at the hanging doctor. Someone else would probably cut his hands off and watch him plummet. But Travis felt a respect for this opponent…so he put his katana down and reached for the doctor's hand. But before he could, the doctor suddenly let go of the roof, fell a short distance and grabbed onto an open window ledge, and crawled in.

"Damnit!" Travis yelled, as he snatched up his beam katana and rushed downstairs. He had to move fast before the doctor found a new weapon. But as he reached the head of the stairs, and saw the doctor advancing with a motorised bone saw, he could guess it was too late for that.

"Now is the time, for you to die!" he shouted maniacally and he charged at Travis, swinging his buzzing weapon. Travis only just managed to jump back in time, drawing his own weapon and blocked the mad doctor's next strike. He was on the defensive and being forced to move back along the white pristine halls as the mad doctor tore at him. If he didn't find a way to strike back soon, he was going to be torn to bits. As he continued backwards, he spied a plastic bag of some kind of dark red liquid. He took an offensive slash at the doctor and seized the bag, ripping it open with his katana and throwing the contents into the doctor's face, temporarily blinding him. As the doctor stumbled, trying to clear his field of vision, Travis seized his opportunity and slashed at the doctor's arm, cutting it clean off and staining his white coat with fresh blood. The doctor screamed in pain and hurled his saw at Travis, forcing him to roll dodge. The doctor ran down the hall, trying to escape his opponent. Travis swore loudly and gave chase, keeping the doctor's white coat in sight. As he rounded a corner, he spotted the doctor pushing a large metal trolley in his direction. It picked up speed, and was about to crush Travis, when he got an idea.

In one swift slash, the table split in two from the mighty beam katana. Travis advanced on the doctor, who was now trapped at the end of the corridor, thanks to a locked door. The doctor turned to look at him… and smiled through his pain.

"You did well Travis… you are an excellent specimen." He complimented.

"And you're a worthy opponent." He replied, smiling as well.

"Danke. Perhaps we could meet again outside of battle?" the doctor suggested. Travis nodded.

"I'd like that…see you later then." And in a finishing blow, Travis cut the medic in two, ending the battle. He then picked up his opponents medigun and proceeded to use it on himself. The gash in his shoulder healed up nicely. He left the gun there and left the hospital, leaving a number of dumbstruck staff to clean up the mess.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, two French speakers were chatting with one another. One wore a tan jacket and had flowing blond hair. The other wore a red suit and a mask to cover most of his face. The man took out a cigarette and lit it.

"You're going to have to tell him soon you know…" he advised. Sylvia frowned.

"I know…but it's hard. I don't want to break him." The man smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Mon petit fleur. Do not fear." He smiled, letting out a puff of smoke. "He won't break you. Because if he tries, I shall break him."


	6. Chapter 6: Crates

Chapter 6: Crates

It had been three days since Travis had gotten any calls from Sylvia. He was starting to get worried. Why hadn't the next match been set up? Why was she avoiding him? Was it something he said? He continued to question himself as he paced up and down his room, Jeane nuzzling his leg, begging him to play with her.

The door knock broke him out of his little trance and he went to open it. He stood shocked for a moment considering he'd cut this person in two only a few days ago and now he was standing here before him, but then Travis reminded himself of the respawners and it put him at ease.

"Guten Morgan Herr Touchdown." Greeted the Germanic doctor.

"Hey doc. So those respawner things are real huh?"

"Ja. Good zing too, death is such a handicap to your career." He joked, and Travis cracked a smile.

"So what do you want?" Travis cut to the point and the medic nodded, picking up a large wooden crate beside his feet. It was wrapped in shining jingling chains and sealed with a large sturdy padlock. "And this is?"

"It's a crate. Mann co. likes to give zem out at random. Zey contain equipment and items for our use."

"Well that's fucking cool. Open it up." But the medic shook his head.

"Mann co. have the keys. We need to buy zem." Travis raised an eyebrow.

"Fucking stupid…whatever, we can go out and earn some cash."

"Ja. Zats why I came over." The medic confirmed. "Let's go get zem!"

"Let's." Travis agreed with a grin. He snatched up his beam katana and headed out, the doctor following him.

They picked out a job to take out some petty criminal gang and headed to the bridge underpass, where their hideout supposedly was. They weren't exactly hidden very well, Travis thought, just hanging out outside some trailers. All 3 were dressed in dark business suits and two of them were smoking, and one was holding a gun. Travis looked back to his Germanic friend who had his medigun ready. He smiled and stepped forward into the flat dusty area. The gang members all glared at me and one of them spoke up.

"Get the fuck out of here or we start shooting!" as he drew his gun and aimed at Travis. Travis grinned, feeling the medigun's healing effects.

"Just try it fuckface!" he retorted and charged. Two of the gang members opened fire. Travis felt the bullet rake into his skin…but no pain. The medigun was keeping him healed even as more shots rained in on him. Travis' grin grew wider as he charged at one of them, who was frantically reloading. In one swift slash, the man's torso flew into the air and landed a few feet from his feet. Travis now turned on the man who had shouted at him, who was still shooting, apparently not getting the message. He charged at him and swung at his head, but the man ducked and fired a shot at his leg. Nothing. Travis felt the thud of it connecting with his limb, but once again, no pain whatsoever. He continued to grin as the man's head left his body with another horizontal slice. Now he turned to the third one… but the third one was gone. He noticed one of the trailer doors was open.

"Damnit… must've gone to get some friends."

"Zat means more trouble for us…" The medic agreed. The third man returned a few moments later with six other men. Each one wore the same dark suits. Three were wielding katana's, two were holding guns and the third was holding a bright red beam katana. The original man was nowhere to be seen.

"Get behind me doc." Travis advised, as the medic switched on his medigun once again. Two of the katana wielding men charged, as the two gun holders opened fire. Once again, Travis felt no pain. So, he concentrated on his two charging opponents instead. Travis easily deflected the blow of the first one and slashed at the second, but he blocked him. Travis was forced back as the second man countered his blow and narrowly missed him. The first man got the jump on Travis and embedded his katana in Travis' shoulder. But no blood poured out. Not a single drop. Travis grinned again.

"Don't you get it fuckface? You can't hurt me!" he cried, slashing at the first man's stomach, watching a waterfall of blood spew out as a result. He turned on the first man again and hacked at him, the medic keeping him healed. What they didn't notice was the man whom Travis had missed, sneaking up behind the medic, wielding a chain. He quickly lassoed it round the medic's neck and brought him back, trying to choke him, and also making him drop his medigun. Travis suddenly felt the pang of pain as more bullets riddled his arms. He cried out and looked for the doctor. He spotted him slowly turning blue as the man was choking him. He began to run to him, but felt the pain as bullets raked over his back, spewing blood from each new wound. He gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the pain, rushing to the doctor's aid. The medic saw him coming and quickly spun around, allowing Travis to stab the man in the back. He screamed and fell down, freeing the medic, who quickly reclaimed his medigun and switched it on. Travis felt extreme relief as his wounds were healed, the bullets popping out of his body. He grinned and turned back to the gun weilders, charging head on.

Two heads flew into the air, two corpses crumpled, two bodies hit the floor, two men were dead. Travis looked at the supposed leader, wielding the beam katana. It was then he heard a strange buzzing behind him. He heard the Medic's medigun buzzing behind him, crackling with energy.

"I am fully charged!" he announced with a mad grin. Travis was clueless to what he meant, until he activated his Ubercharge. He felt his body glow with red energy and his eyes went gold. He grinned…this felt good. He felt unstoppable! He took a swipe at his enemy, who quickly blocked, but Travis continued to hack away at him. His opponents beam katana sparked as Travis slashed it in half, causing their leader to flee. But Travis pursued, catching up and eventually dealing the final blow, slicing him through the middle. He looked down and the Ubercharge wore off.

"Doc…"

"Ja?"

"I need to bring you to more of my matches."

A while later, they stopped by Mann co. and bought a key for their crate. The both looked on in anticipation as Travis twisted the key in the lock, and the box fell open. Inside… what was that? It looked like some kind of strange device. Kind of like… a beam katana? Travis raised an eyebrow as he picked up the strange device. He tested his suspicion as he pressed a small button on it. Instantly, the blade erupted from one side. It was long and glowing red. Travis held it in his hands and took a few swings. It felt light, but had a sense of power behind it. The handle was adorned with the Mann co. logo and it also had some weird circular symbol on the other side. The medic was watching wide eyed.

"Zat is the new beam katana Mann co. brought out. Zey call it 'The Elitist." Travis grinned.

"Elitist eh? Sounds useful…" he turned it off and slipped it into his belt. Then he clapped his white coated friend on the back.

"Fancy a drink?"

"I sought you vould never ask!"


	7. Chapter 7: Mumbling Mystery

Chapter 7: Mumbling Mystery

**Rank 6: The Pyro**

"**Hmhmmmm!"**

"Ja, so, zat is how I lost my medical license." The Medic joked as he sipped his drink. Travis grinned.

"Your history sure is gory doc."

"Ja vell, zats what ve doctors do!" he retorted quickly, making his friend snigger. The two had been hanging out in the bar for a while now, chatting and just generally wasting time. Who cared? They didn't. It was pretty good for a while.

"So, you know what Mann co. is all about?" Travis asked casually.

"Zey sell equipment and armour to soldiers and mercenaries. So ven ze big boss heard about a whole association he could sell stuff to, he leaped at ze chance." The Medic explained.

"The boss huh? Who is he?"

"His name is Saxton Hale. Apparently, he moved here to use the UAA to sell more weaponry." The Medic explained.

"Huh…interesting." Travis mused, sipping his drink.

The phone call cut through the conversation and Travis grumbled as he answered.

"Travis?"

"Yeah? What's up?"

"Your next fight has been set up. Head over to Speed City. The building will be marked with a red X."

"Bout time. So Syl, you ever gonna give me an answer?" he grumbled.

"…what? What are you talking about?" she replied slowly. Travis grinded his teeth.

"You know fucking well what I mean!" The line went dead. Travis nearly crushed the phone in his hand, but refrained from doing so. He looked back to the doctor.

"I gotta go doc. Next match up."

"Ja, I understand. Viel Glück!" he shouted as Travis left. He assumed that was some form of good luck. He hoped anyway…

The bus ride to Speed City was long and dull. Travis sat by the window and watched the dull dry desert speed by his window. He was thinking back to his fight with Speed Buster. And how he'd lost his master, Thunder Ryu. Bad memories. Something he'd rather forget. But as the bus ground to a halt and he got off, it was all he could think about. Speed city was as deserted as ever, its tail buildings and general gloomy atmosphere. Travis looked around for the red X Sylvia had mentioned. Then his thoughts turned to Sylvia. She really had been avoiding him recently. But why? What possible reason could she have?

His train of thought crashed as he found the red X, painted rather clumsily onto the front door of a once handsome block of flats. Travis ventured inside and looked around. No sign of his opponent. Was he supposed to look for him? Then he spotted another red X on the stairs. Well, that answered his question. He followed the stairs up, ascending to the top floor of the flats. He was in a tight corridor, with two open doors on either side and one at the end of the hall, leading into a dark room. He was about to continue forward, when suddenly a strange silver and orange cylinder, rounded at both ends, appeared by his feet. He looked down at it… it was a gas canister. Travis blinked twice and looked up. He saw the flare approaching, heading for the canister. He realised almost too late what his opponent was planning. Travis threw himself to the left, and was then carried by the explosion down another corridor, hitting his head on a door. He got to his feet grumbling, looking over to the flower of flame the explosion made. Then, he appeared.

At first, Travis wondered if he was some kind of demon, emerging from the flames in such a manner. But as Travis saw him get closer, he dismissed this theory and decided he just had the flames of a demon. He was dressed in a red, flame retardant suit from neck to toe and his face was covered by a black gas mask. He wore black gloves and black boots, and in his hands he held a hefty flamethrower, blue flame burning brightly. The Pyromaniac mumbled something that Travis couldn't quite understand. What he did understand now, was this was his opponent. He got to his feet and drew his new beam katana.

"Your name's not Matt Helms by any chance is it?" The Pyromaniac shook his head and mumbled something again. Travis raised an eyebrow. "Take that damn thing off, I can't understand you." The Pyro shouted something angrily so Travis doubted he'd find out who this guy was anytime soon. "Fine then…just come get me." He grinned, holding his katana ready. He instantly regretted his words as the Pyro aimed his flamethrower at him and let fly, scorching the building around them. Travis, thinking fast, sliced open a door nearby and ducked inside to escape the flames. The Pyro let out what Travis could only assume was laughter. He got back up, heading back out into the corridor. But his opponent was gone. He'd left down the hall. Travis swore loudly. Now he could get the jump on him again. Travis quickly hopped over the flames and continued down the corridor, The Elitist at the ready.

He trod gingerly down the smoking hallway, keeping an eye on all possible ways his opponent might spring a trap. He moved back in front of the stairs and then along the hall his opponent had been stationed when he first arrived. He heard a creaking floorboard behind him and he spun around to look. There was no-one there. He breathed a sigh of relief, and completely missed the Pyro appearing from the second door on the left. Until the flames started licking his jacket anyway. Travis yelped and jumped back, running down the hall with the mumbling fire wielder after him in hot pursuit. He took the stairs two at a time, trying to make some headway between him and the hot headed foe. He made it to the lower floor, then hid behind a wall, ready to spring a trap of his own. He waited. And waited. And waited. But no-one came. His opponent was not on the stairs. So where was he? Travis decided to wait. He was probably upstairs, waiting to surprise him again. Well, Travis wasn't going to be fooled again. He continued waiting. But still, his flame spewing for did not appear.

A loud slam caused his to turn around. He saw through the ceiling the head of a fire axe, piercing through the above, making a fairly big hole. Then he saw the nozzle of the flamethrower appear and spew flames down at the hallway. Travis stepped back slightly to avoid them as they set the small passage alight. The flamethrower withdrew and Travis heard footsteps above him. He had worked it out. With the flames in the way, he was trapped by the stairs. Easy target for his opponent, whom he now heard coming down the stairs. Travis cursed again and decided there was only one thing for it. He took a running leap and jumped through the flames, rolling on the ground and getting back up. He was alive and still in this. He saw his opponent appear at the stairs.

"Well now what? You're trapped over there and those flames won't reach me now." He heard the Pyromaniac mumble something…and then he stepped into the flames. He strode through them as if they were nothing. Travis' eye's widened and he ran for it as he felt the familiar flames lick at his heels. He turned left and dashed into a small room, slamming the door shut behind him. He moved a large chest of drawers in front of it. He hated this, hiding like a coward. But up against a flamethrower like this, what else could he do? He needed a plan and fast. He looked around the room. Empty except for those drawers. There was a small window. Travis wondered to himself. Could he use that to get the jump on this pyromaniac? He'd have to try it. He turned off his katana, slipped it back through his belt and slowly eased himself out of the window. He steadily made his descent, finding another open window below him. He slowly and surely shifted inside. Above him, he could hear another bang as The Pyro was clearly forcing his way in. Eventually, he made it into the lower room. He quickly made for the stairs and clambered up them, smelling smoke from the above floor.

He came across his opponent laughing as he spewed flames into the small room Travis had once occupied. Travis reactivated The Elitist and ran at the Pyro. His opponent turned and tried to unleash more flames, but Travis swung first, slicing the flamethrower in two. The broken weapon hit the ground and the Pyro mumbled something angrily. He drew his fire axe again and prepared to face Travis. The tables had turned now. Now that the flamethrower was gone, he'd have to face Travis man to man, blade to blade. And Travis knew he now had the advantage.

The Pyro made the first move, swinging his heavy axe at Travis, who promptly blocked it and pushed the Pyro back. He stumbled a little, but remained standing, repelling Travis' next attack. The two continued to clash, trading blow for blow until the Pyromaniac decided he had had enough. He hurled his axe at Travis, who was forced to dive into another room to dodge and took out his flare gun. He waited. And waited. And waited. But Travis did not emerge from the room. Curious, the Pyro moved toward the room to investigate. He peeked in and looked around. No sign of him. Then he spied it. Another open window. And then he felt the beam katana strike him.

Travis sank his weapon deep into the pyromaniac's stomach, making his opponent mumble in pain. Then, he sliced sideways, cutting his stomach clean open, blood spilling onto the floor. The Pyro continued mumbling in pain, until finally it stopped, and the Pyro fell forward. Travis looked down at him and breathed a sigh of relief. He kicked the corpse for good measure, and headed back downstairs. At the door of the flats, Sylvia was waiting.

"Well done Travis. You are now ranked 5th." She said half heartedly. Travis shot her a wry smile.

"Going faster than I thought…" he passed by her, but stopped. "I don't know why you won't talk to me anymore. But whatever the reason, get over it." And he continued walking. Sylvia watched him go, looking slightly upset by his words. Then she felt that familiar hand on her shoulder.

"No manners. How disappointing." The suited man said, lighting another cigarette.

"He doesn't need them…" Sylvia retorted.

"Not that it matters too much." He continued. "He will see soon enough."


	8. Chapter 8: Scotsman the brave

Chapter 8: Scotsman the brave

**Rank 5: The Demoman**

"**I'll blast ya into thin gruel!"**

Travis was sitting back and relaxing after his heated battle. He'd gotten the new Bizzare Jelly 5 tape recently and now he was watching it, a classic otaku smile on his face.

"Moe…" he murmured as Jeane rubbed against his leg. He felt like he was in a trance, unable to look away from the bright colourful anime, completely unaware that the phone was ringing.

Eventually, after ringing a few times, the phone broke through this trance and he grumbled a little bit, pausing his tape to go and answer it.

"Hello?"

"Travis! About fucking time you answered!" Sylvia snapped on the other side. Travis grimaced.

"Geez, calm down already. I was busy."

"No excuses! Now get over to Destroy Stadium or I'll have your head!" she screeched as she felt her back click a few times, hanging up and breathing a long sigh of relief.

"Geeze. Crazy bitch." Travis grumbled and slammed the phone down. Why was it, whenever she called, she left him feeling like shit? Whatever, he thought. He grabbed The Elitist and headed out the door, Jeane seemingly meowing in concern.

Schpeltiger ate up the road as it rocketed toward Destroy Stadium. Travis hadn't been there since his fight with Doctor Letz shake at least a year back. He also recalled his encounter with Doctor Peace. He wondered briefly how open mic night in hell was going. He then turned his attention to the stadium. He parked outside and wandered indoors. Unlike last time, he was not greeted by baseball bat wielding thugs. The stadium, the inside at least, was deserted. When he emerged into the outside however, it was a different story. Across from him, on the other side of the stadium, he spotted a man sitting on the ground, a brown glass bottle in his left hand. The man had dark skin, an eye patch covering his right eye, a black moustache over his top lip and down the sides of his mouth and some kind of black cap covering his head. He was dressed in a grey leather coat with a high collar on top of some kind of red uniform. On the left and right sides of his chest, three small cylinders were perched. He was also wearing grey boots and had some kind of device lying next to him. He was snoring, fast asleep.

Travis could've just moved in for the kill then and there. But that wasn't him. He wouldn't stoop that low, even if this guy was a drunk.

"Hey! Wake up!" he shouted across the field. No reply, or movement. "WAKE UP!" he shouted again.

"Whuh…" mumbled the man as he slowly rose to his feet, looking weary. He looked at Travis and frowned. "What the bloody hell do ya want laddie?" he shouted, a drunken tone in his voice. Travis raised an eyebrow. He sounded Scottish.

"Are you rank 4?" he shouted back, matching the Scotsman's tone.

"Ya! So what if I am?" he returned.

"I'm here for the fight!" Travis was getting annoyed. The Scotsman shot him a quizzical look.

"Fight? What fight?" Travis' teeth ground together.

"I'm an assassin of the UAA and we're both here to kill each other, don't you get that?" he yelled at the top of his lungs. The Scotsman suddenly smiled.

"Aye laddie…I hear ya." He picked up the device next to him and Travis realised what it was. It was a grenade launcher. "Look at you eh? Ya fine dandy, so proud!" he taunted, at least that's what Travis assumed anyway. "You're nothing but a big ugly girl!" he continued. Travis took out The Elitist.

"And you're just some drunk fucker who's not going to live for another ten seconds!" he shouted back. The Scotsman began to laugh at this.

"Ohhh yer scarin' me lad!" he taunted again, slapping his left knee. "You're a real bloody sight with your head fulla eyeballs!" Travis snapped. He'd had enough with this cocky Scotsman. He charged at him, rushing over the field. But then he noticed the Scotsman's smile. Suddenly, he lifted up a flap on his leather jacket, revealing some kind of device underneath.

"KA BOOM!" he shouted as he pressed the trigger. The field around Travis became laden with explosions as the hidden sticky bombs went off all at once, blowing him onto the ground. Travis was shocked. He hadn't expected this and this battle just took a turn for the worst. He kept down on the ground as he heard more explosions and refused to get up until they had all stopped. He got back to his feet and waited until the smoke cleared. He spotted his opponent on the other side of the field.

"Not so tough now are ya lad?" the Scotsman laughed and he shot a small red cylinder at Travis. He recognised it quick and leapt to one side, being blown back a little by the ensuing explosion.

"Oh they're gonna have ta glue you back together!" he taunted some more, shooting another grenade at him. "In hell!"

Travis swore loudly as he was blasted into the wall of the stadium. He couldn't keep this up. He couldn't let this annoying Scottish fucker bash him around any longer. He had to take action. He got back onto his feet and held the Elitist up like a baseball bat. The Scotsman raised an eyebrow but ignored it and shot another grenade at him. Travis was on it like a shot, swinging the Elitist at the flying projectile and cutting it clean in two. The Scotsman's eye went wide and he shot more grenades at Travis, who promptly cut through them all. Seeing this wasn't working, the Scotsman knew he needed to change tactics. He dropped his grenade launcher and took out a different device, that looked somewhat similar. He shot another grenade, but this time, he aimed at Travis' feet. Travis realised he couldn't hit this one, so he instead decided to duck to the left. But… it didn't explode. The spiky little ball was left lying there. He looked at it quizzically, then back to his opponent. The only problem was, his opponent was gone. He caught a glimpse of him running inside. Travis cursed and was about to run after him, when that spiky little grenade finally exploded. So was there a timer for these things or something? Travis decided to figure it out later, and chased the Scotsman inside.

As he entered a small corridor, he spotted the Scotsman at the other end, drinking from another brown bottle. A vein in Travis' forehead throbbed. He charged at him, rage fuelling him. But then he spotted that smile again and knew he'd run right into a trap. The Scotsman gave something of a mock salute as Travis reached the end of the corridor, which opened up into a larger room. The Scotsman tapped his detonator, and the sticky bombs around the outside of the entranceway exploded. Concrete flew and debris coated the room as Travis vanished under the rubble. The Scotsman burst out laughing again.

"They'll be able to bury ya in a soup can!" he mocked, despite his opponent being dead. He was about to turn and leave when he heard that voice.

"Not so fast fuckface." There he was standing atop the rubble, beam katana in hand, glaring down at the Scotsman. His jaw dropped.

"Bloody hell!" he exclaimed. "How did ya-"

"It's called stepping back when I saw that tell tale smile of yours. Told me all I need to know." He grinned madly. "Now, how about I pay you back for that little trick?" he approached the Scotsman, who was fumbling for his sticky launcher. By the time he had it out, Travis was too close for it to be of any use, so he dropped it and came up with another idea. As Travis swung out at him, he dodged to the right and taking his empty beer bottle, socked Travis in the face with it. The glass shattered and embedded in Travis' cheek as he stumbled back from surprise. The Scotsman grinned and used the chance to kick Travis away from him, and then launched a sticky bomb to his feet.

"Ka blooey!" he shouted triumphantly as he pressed the trigger. But the bomb did not go off. Travis had already cut it in two. But it still gave the Scotsman time to run for it. Travis growled and hurried after him, keen to end the fight.

The Scotsman had his regular grenade launcher back out and was shooting back at Travis, who cut through each one again and again. There was no stopping him now. Eventually, the Scotsman hit a dead end. He looked back at Travis, his one eye staring at him, wide open.

"End of the line old man…now accept your death so I can move the fuck on." But then he noticed that smile again. The Scotsman grabbed his sticky bomb launcher and aimed it…at himself. He attached three sticky's to himself and grinned.

"If I'm goin' out, I'm takin you with me!" and he launched himself at Travis, one hand on his detonator. Travis had to act fast. He brought his katana up and sliced the Scotsman through the waist, severing his arm in the process. Now he couldn't activate the bombs. He gurgled in pain on the floor, blood spilling out around him until he finally lay still.

Travis looked down at his beaten opponent. Then he decided on a little cous des graces. He rolled his body over and took the detonator off of the Scotsman and began walking away.

"Boom…" he mumbled as he clicked the detonator. What was left of the Scotsman's body was showered across the concrete tunnel, painting a murderous picture that would be hell to clean up.


	9. Chapter 9: Outsmarting Bullets

Chapter 9: Outsmarting bullets

**Rank 4: The Heavy Weapons Guy**

"**Run! I'm coming for you!"**

Travis didn't see Sylvia for the rest of that day. She didn't show up at the stadium even though Talbot and Weller did. Now he was really suspicious of her avoiding him. He sat at home for a while pondering what was going on. The new UAA was way too fishy for his liking. Just what kind of deal had they struck with Mann co.? Travis wanted to find out. And maybe he would once he reached the top. Well it wouldn't be long now anyway. Then the phone rang. Travis picked it up.

"What is it Syl?"

"Syl? Is that your pet name for her?" Travis was taken aback by the sudden Irish accent.

"Henry? What do you want?"

"Just thought I'd check up on you little brother. I heard you're back in the ranks."

"Not for much longer. Once I top this shit I'm out of it for good."

"Oh sure brother, like last time when you were out for good?"

"Fuck off." He snapped.

"No need for that now Travis. I just came to tell you about Saxton."

"Saxton? The guy who runs Mann co.?"

"The very same. He's been very interested in your rise through the ranks."

"Oh has he? And how do you know this?"

"I've lent my services to him for a while. I needed some cash."

"What for?" Henry didn't reply.

"Oh yeah, Syl" he said patronisingly "told me to tell you that your next fight has been set up. Get your sorry arse over to the warehouse at the east of town."

"Ok, spill. You know as well as I do Sylvia's been avoiding me. What the fuck's going on?"

"It's not for me to say brother. Just keep your wits about you. Oh, and never let someone get the jump on you from behind." And then the line went dead.

Travis snorted. Just like Henry. Whatever, he had work to do. He grabbed the Elitist and left the apartment, Jeane meowing at him as he left.

Before Travis went to the warehouse, he decided to drop in on Naomi to see if she had any new weapons for him. He parked outside her place and went inside. She found her chatting with that hardhat wearing man again. Did he ever leave?

"Oh. It's you." Naomi muttered as Travis strode in. He could never tell if she was bitter about him, if she hated him or if that was just her normal attitude. Not that it mattered to him anyway.

"Got anything new for me?" he asked.

"Well, she doesn't, but if you have an Elitist, I do." The hardhat man interjected. Naomi shot him a weird glance.

"Sure." Travis answered, handing over the Elitist. The hardhat man examined it in his hands like a real pro.

"I built that you know." He said, his southern accent stretching out the A.

"You did?"

"Yup. I work for Mann co. in weapon development. I built a lot of their gear." Travis nodded, looking at the guy quizzically. He took out a blue sheet of paper and started marking down lines on it. When he was done, he took the Elitist and the blueprint into another room. "I won't be long son." He said before he was gone. After about 20 minutes of hammering and metal hitting metal, he returned with the beam katana. It looked like a completely different model now. There were two elevated orange sections jutting up from where Travis presumed the blade would appear. The handle was red and black, and that weird orange logo was once again present. The hardhat man pressed a switch a long orange beam shot out of the top.

"I call it, 'The team killer'." The hardhat man said, handing it back to Travis. He held It for a while and tested it out, taking a few swings.

"This is good…"

"Durn right it is!" answered the hardhat man, an enthusiastic smile on his face. Travis nodded and then left, taking Schpeltiger with him. Naomi looked up to the hardhat man.

"You know you're going to have to fight him eventually."

"I know that…"

"Then why give him a stronger weapon?"

"Ya'll know the answer to that." He scratched his chin. "A man has to give his opponent a fair chance."

Travis zoomed up the road on his massive mechanical steed, parking outside of the warehouse. This place hadn't been used in years. There were still plenty of crates and other crap lying around. He ducked under the broken metal shutter and walked inside. The inside was falling apart, broken machinery lying everywhere, mountains of crates, rusted metal. But no assassin. Travis walked further inside, when he heard footsteps nearby. Then he saw him. What Travis could only describe as a giant of a man. He had massive broad shoulders and large arms with no sleeves. He wore a red shirt underneath a black vest, with a lot magazines around his chest, hanging from his left shoulder. He was bald with a slight beard and a massive chin. He was lugging what looked like a massive minigun around. He walked over to one of the crates and stood infront of Travis.

"I am Heavy Weapons guy…" he said in a thick Russian accent. He hoisted his chain gun up. "And this…is my weapon."

"What? Am I supposed to be impressed?"

"No… you should be scared, tiny baby man." The heavy grinned, looking at him. "Who sent this baby to fight me?" Travis' eye twitched.

"At least I have some working brain cells unlike you, Russian fucker." The Heavy sniffed.

"You think you can outsmart me?" he asked, aiming his mini gun. "I'd like to see you outsmart bullets." And he opened fire on Travis. He ran off to the left as the Heavy followed him, decorating the warehouse in bullet holes. Travis ran for his life, not daring to stop, for fear he should be raked with the spraying ammunition.

"Fight me coward!" the Heavy taunted, walking after Travis, never stopping the rain of bullets. Travis kept running, ducking and dodging between crates to get away. But no matter how far he ran, he could hear the rattling gun fire closing in on him, chasing him, hunting him down. He had to turn the tables somehow. He looked up to the stacks of crates surrounding him. An idea sparked in his head. He rounded a corner and leaped atop a stack of crates, then waited as the Heavy came down the aisle. "You are dead!" he shouted, a malicious grin on his face. Travis waited till he was in just the right place, and then pushed a crate down on top of him. But the Heavy noticed the tumbling crate and quickly dropped his mini gun, delivering a punch to the crate, smashing the whole damn thing. Travis' eyes widened in surprise.

"It is good day to be giant man!" taunted the heavy, retrieving his mini gun and aiming at Travis. Travis leaped off the crates as he heard the whirring start up. This was getting him nowhere. He rolled onto his feet as he landed, running as the Heavy began to bear down on him again. He needed a new tactic or this was going to end with a massive red smear that was once him staining the floor. But how? His opponent wasn't going to let up with that mini gun any time soon and he could only hide behind the disintegrating crates for so long. He darted to the left and felt a bullet barely miss his leg.

Travis had to start fighting back. And the first thing to do was take out his gun. He broke into a run and circled around a large rectangle of crates, coming up behind the Heavy, beam katana in hand. He made a leap at him, but the Heavy turned as he got too close and turned, quickly letting go of his mini gun. He got into a boxing stance and delivered a solid left straight to Travis' face.

"POW!" he shouted as his fist met Travis' head and he went flying back down the aisle of crates. Travis coughed once, sending a spatter of blood onto the floor, before he got back up, looking pissed off.

"You're going to fucking pay for that you fat bald bastard!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. The Heavy just laughed at him.

"Let us fight man versus tiny baby man!" he taunted, grabbing his mini gun again. But Travis was sick of this now. He raised his beam katana in defence and got ready for the storm of bullets. The Heavy opened fire and Travis began moving his beam katana in a circle, acting as a shield to block the bullets. It was killing the battery, but it was good enough to let Travis approach the Russian man.

"Oh dis is bad!" he yelled, trying to break through Travis; defence, but it was to no avail. Then he heard his mini gun click. He was out of ammo. The Russian frowned and quickly hurled his mini gun at Travis, managing to push him back for the moment. Then he took off down the aisle. Travis recovered from the mini gun being tossed at him and growled, watching the Russian turn tail. He had to catch him now. He ran off after him, taking a left, then a right, then another left, then straight on… and he was nowhere to be seen. He hated to admit it but the Russian had slipped out of his grasp. Travis cursed when he remembered he'd left the mini gun intact. If this guy could find extra ammo, they'd be back to playing cat and mouse. He had to destroy that mini gun while he had the chance. He ran back the way he came, straight on, then a right, then another right, then a left…wait…should he have turned right at that last section? He cursed again. Now he was lost in this wooden maze. He clambered atop one of the crates to see if he could get a better view…and then leapt back down when he spotted his opponent aiming a shotgun in his direction. The bullets hit the wall and he was safe for now. But he hadn't counted on the guy having a shotgun. But what he knew now was that this battle was still on.

He moved around the crates quietly now, sticking to the walls whenever he could, keeping his eyes open for the giant Russian he hunted. He peeked around a corner then dashed down the aisle. Maybe he could land a surprise attack if he was careful. He peered round the next corner…nothing. He dashed down the aisle, when all of a sudden, a fist appeared and smacked him in the face. The Russian man laughed as he stepped out of his hiding place. Travis reeled from the blow and reached his beam katana, but it wasn't there. It was lying on the floor a short ways away. He dived for it, but the Heavy kicked him in the ribs, sending him skidding along the floor. Travis was back on his feet and lunged at the Heavy who was trying to pick the weapon up. He socked him in the jaw and instantly regretted it. Just punching the guy's chin hurt like hell. Was this guy made of iron? But it gave Travis the distraction he needed to snatch the guys shotgun away from him. He pushed Travis away, realising seconds later what he'd done.

"Oh nooooo!" he shouted as Travis emptied a round into his left leg, before reclaiming his beam katana and activating it.

"This is for breaking my jaw!" he shouted, slicing upward, slicing the Russian diagonally, and then horizontally to cut his head off. Blood spilled onto the wood and floor, coating Travis. But he could care less right now. He deactivated his weapon and turned to leave. As he made his way over the crates, he spotted the Heavy's mini gun, lying discarded. Travis pondered for a moment…then picked it up. He planned to pawn it for some cash. Every little bit helped after all.

AN: Hey readers ^^ I thought i'd just take some time at the end of this chapter to send a little message out. For all of you who have read, skimmed, or even just glanced at this fic i'd like to say thanks a whole lot. Checking the traffic every week and finding all the hits and visitors is really envigorating and it helps motivate me to get new chapters out on a weekly basis. So again, thanks for reading. Also, if any of you feel there's any way i could improve my writing, post a review. I'm not gonna assume im perfect and im always up for improvement so if there's anything you'd like to say, just leave me a quick review. Thanks again ^^


	10. Chapter 10: Southern discomfort

Chapter 10: Southern Discomfort

**Rank 3: The Engineer**

"**You dun incurred my wrath, son."**

The Medic's medigun healed Travis up nicely, fixing his broken jaw. Travis nudged it a little with his fingers and moved his mouth around until he was convinced that it was ok.

"Thanks doc."

"Nein problem." He replied. Travis sighed a little. "Vat is wrong mein commerade?" he asked worridley.

"Nothing doc…well, ok, it's not nothing. It's Sylvia."

"Ze French woman?"

"Yup. She's been avoiding me for fucking ages and it's pissing me off." The Medic hummed to himself for a moment.

"Vell, maybe she's just busy wiz her vork?" he suggested. Travis shrugged.

"Never stopped her in the past…" he mumbled. Suddenly, the Medic gasped, remembering something.

"I saw her vith ze Spy ze other day." Travis raised an eyebrow.

"The Spy?"

"Ja. He is also French." Travis rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"You don't think they're…"

"It iz possible." Travis' gaze narrowed.

"Is the Spy in the ranks too?"

"Ja."

"Good…now I have a target." Travis gripped his beam katana with white knuckled fury. Suddenly, the phone rang. The Medic chose to answer it.

"Ja? …ja, he is here." The Medic handed the phone to Travis.

"Hello?"

"Greetings Mr Touchdown." The voice sounded both smug and French. Travis already hated this man on the phone.

"And you are?"

"Zat is not important." He replied. Travis was almost crushing the phone. "All zat matters is the message I have for you."

"And what, pray tell, is that?" Travis twitched.

"Zat if you continue through the rankings, you will fall. So, I suggest you back out now." Travis was furious now. How could he fucking ask him that? How smug could he be to call his opponent before they were even fighting? Travis wanted to slash the guy in the face. "However, if you decide not to take my advice, then go to the building site in the north. Rank 3 awaits you." And with that he hung up. Travis hurled the phone at the wall and it smashed into a million pieces. He nodded a farewell to the Medic, and charged outside to Schpeltiger, racing off to his next location. The Medic watched him with a quizzical look…

On the other end of the line, the red suited man put down the phone. He looked over to the blonde woman and smiled.

"Well, I warned him."

"You knew as well as I did that he wouldn't give in."

"I know…" the suited man lit a cigarette. "But it was fun making him angry." Sylvia looked away and fiddled with a button on her jacket nervously. The suited man patted her shoulder comfortingly. "Mon petit fleur. Zere is no need to worry anymore. If he doesn't fall to zose machines, he will fall to me."

Travis' motorbike ate up the road, screeching to a halt outside of the construction site. He leapt off it and charged through a gap in the fence. He looked around, scanning for his opponent.

Then…he heard something. Music… guitar music specifically. He looked towards its source. A man was sitting on some steel girders, playing an old brown guitar. He wore a yellow hardhat, goggles, brown overalls, and Travis could spot a red metal toolbox and a wrench by his feet. He also wore a single yellow glove. Travis recognised him.

"You…so you're in this too?"

"That I am son." The Engineer replied, continuing the strum his gentle tune. Travis felt some of his anger ebbing away.

"So why'd you build a weapon for me if you knew I was in the ranks too?"

"Fair game. I built that so you'd have a fighting chance." Travis' eyebrow arched.

"So you don't think much of me?"

"Not at all. It's just I think a lot of myself." Travis smiled. At least the guy was honest.

"Well, I don't see a weapon on you, unless you plan on using that guitar in some way." At this point, Travis would expect no less. The Engineer shook his head.

"I got something better…" he smiled as he continued strumming.

"Then bring it out! Come on, I'm itching for a fight!" Travis took out Team Killer and let the blade appear. The southerner put down his guitar and picked up his wrench. He nudged the toolbox next to him with his foot. In an instant, the toolbox opened up, and a large machine began to construct itself before Travis' eyes. It turned into a large three legged machine, with two mini gun turrets, similar to what the heavy had used, and a big four holed box at the top, presumably a rocket launcher. Travis' jaw dropped.

"Start prayin boy." said the Engineer, smirking. The sentry beeped and it turned to Travis. Travis quickly dived behind a nearby break house to dodge the incoming rockets and bullets.

"Fuck…" Travis mumbled. He got back up and started sneaking round the side of the break house, peering round the corner. The second he did, the sentry beeped again, and opened fire. Travis cursed and ducked back again.

"Ya can't hide forever shorty!" the Engineer taunted. Travis could hear him strumming his guitar again. Travis peered round the corner again, then ducked back before the sentry could shoot. He had an idea that just might work. He climbed up the break house wall and got onto the roof. He crawled close to where both the Engineer and his sentry were. He crept closer, keeping low to the rood, quietly, slowly, edging his way to the lip of the building. Then, he got to his feet and leapt off, beam katana above him, landing nearby to the Engineer and his sentry. He landed on top of the sentry and slashed at its master. The Engineer grimaced as Travis' beam katana sliced his guitar in half…but…it had barely scratched him! Travis' eyes went wide. Normally an attack like that would've cut his opponent in two, but it had only left a red mark on the Engineer's arm. That was when he noticed it. He had some weird red energy flowing around him. It was linked to another machine the Engineer had built, a large rectangular device that beeped consistently. The Engineer grinned at Travis.

"I built a dispenser here. Sorry son." He then took out a pistol and shot Travis in the stomach. Travis fell back, dropping his beam katana, clutching his bleeding wound, then he swore again as he heard the sentry beep, as it turned down at him. Thinking fast, Travis kicked it, sending the sentry falling onto its back, launching its rockets into the sky. The Engineer grumbled and grabbed his wrench, moving over to Travis to presumably beat him senseless with. Travis rolled away from his first strike, grabbing Team Killer as he got back up. He ignored the pain from his wound and focused on his southern opponent. He slashed diagonally, just to have him block with his wrench, and then take out the pistol again for another shot. Travis managed to block in time, but it gave the Engineer time to run back over to his sentry and right it. Travis realised what he was doing and rushed at him to stop him.

"Fuck you and your godamn machines!" he shouted, as he slashed horizontally at the sentry, and then vertically. His first strike cut its chain guns in two, and the vertical strike cleaved the missile launcher in two. The Engineer grimaced and backed off a little bit. Travis turned to him.

"Well now what? I broke your toys." He grinned. The Engineer shook his head.

"Far from it. I'm gonna blow that dumb look off your face." Then he took another shot at Travis and ran behind the pile of girders he'd been sitting on. Travis blocked with Team Killer then chased him behind the girder. Only he wasn't there any more. He'd vanished. Travis looked down and spotted a strange, glowing, spinning device. Another of the southerner's toys no doubt. Well at least he knew how he'd escaped now. But before he chased him, Travis needed a little healing. He moved over to the dispenser the Engineer had left behind and sighed with relief as he felt his wound healing up, the red energy flowing over him. Suddenly, to his left, the sentry exploded. Travis looked over and raised an eyebrow. Why had that happened? He'd just disabled it, not done anything to destroy it. He caught on when the dispenser exploded too. The Engineer was destroying what he'd built. Which meant…that spinning device was bound to go next. Travis ran around the girders and stood on the teleporter, warping him to the top of the unfinished building. He spotted the Engineer holding a box with a button on it, no doubt for destroying his machines. He frowned when he saw Travis appear.

"Well you're smarter than you look slick." He admitted before taking out a shotgun. "But you're not smart enough."

"Yeah yeah." Travis swatted away his comments like flies. "Just shut up and have your little last stand." And Travis charged at him. The Engineer fired three shots, Travis blocked each one. He noticed his blade was starting to lose power. He'd have to recharge soon. Not before he'd cut this guy to pieces though. Suddenly, the Engineer grabbed another toolbox and dropped it in front of him, as it started to set up. Travis snarled and jumped at it, slashing it in half before it could fully set up, suspecting it to be a sentry. But he was wrong. The Engineer had tricked him with a dispenser. Now Travis could hear him running down the wooden and metal scaffold. Travis swore and chased him, running down the wooden walkways. He skirted round a corner, only to find the Engineer erecting another sentry. Travis swore again and leapt up to avoid its shots, coming down slashing at it. But the Engineer blocked him with his wrench and forced him back. Travis retreated behind the corner to avoid any more fire from the sentry.

"This shit again? Really?" he shouted around the corner.

"It works for me. I AM trying to win ya know." The Engineer retorted. Travis thought for a moment and realised his beam katana was out of energy. He retreated back a bit and charged it up with a good shake. It was then that he got another idea. He raced back up the scaffold until he was certain he was above the Engineer. Then, he pointed Team Killer down, jumped, and forced his weapon through the wood, falling downward. Luckily, he'd placed it correctly, and his blade met the sentry. Unfortunately, he cut straight through it and continued falling through the scaffold. He turned off his beam katana and grabbed one of the metal bars to stop himself breaking through any more wood. He looked up. He was only two floors lower now. He had to get back up before the hardhat escaped. He ran back up, up to the next floor, encountering the Engineer on the way. The Engineer whipped out his pistol, but they were too close for it to be of any real use, and Travis knocked it out of his hand. He forced the Engineer back, to the lip of the scaffold. He looked at Travis…and cracked a smile.

"Good match hoss." He admitted, tipping his hardhat slightly.

"Yeah. Same to you old man." And Travis struck the final blow, cutting the man in two, and watching the torso half fell down to the ground below. He looked down from his high perch. The torso had landed on the dusty ground, blood seeping into the cracks of the dry earth. Travis thought back to the times he'd seen the Engineer with Naomi. Why hadn't she told him about him? But that was a problem for another day. For now, he just wanted to go rest up. He mounted Schpeltiger, and set off once more into the sunset.

AN: Sorry for uploading this late, my college has blocked FF so yeah, that was irritating to find out Anyway, it should go without saying that over the holidays i may not be uploading weekly considering Christmas and revision for my January exams. So, i probably won't be uploading any new chapters until the 19th of January. Unless i get bored and skive work w So yeah, just wanted to explain that. Merry Christmas readers ^^


	11. Chapter 11: Right behind you

Chapter 11: Right behind you

**Rank 2: The Spy**

"**Gentlemen?"**

Travis waited in his room. He was tense. He felt stressed. He knew what was coming. He knew that smug French bastard would be his next opponent. And he was itching to kill him. Itching to wipe that no doubt smug look off of his face. He twitched a little as he sat on his bed. Unmoving, just waiting, waiting for the inevitable. Every fibre of his being was ready to make this kill. Then the phone rang, and he snatched it up.

"Where and when?" he shouted into it.

"Calm down brother. I'm just calling to check on ya." Travis frowned. As if there was someone who could sound smugger than that French bastard.

"What do you want?"

"Wishing ya luck is all. Your next match is all set up. Apparently your opponents one of the best assassins there is."

"I don't give a fuck Henry. He'll die like the rest of them." Travis spat in reply.

"Calm down for Christ sake. Getting angry with me ain't gonna do ya any favours." Travis gripped the phone tighter and took the sharp edge out of his tone.

"Just tell me where he is."

"He's waiting by the river. He says he'll be 'right behind you'." And with that he hung up. Travis put the phone down, snatched up Team Killer, and rushed out the door, leaping aboard his metal steed and heading for the river.

When he arrived, he leapt off Schpeltiger and drew his beam katana, approaching the river bed, ready to attack this guy on sight. He looked around. There was no-one to be seen. Not a person for miles. Travis scratched his head in confusion. The guy was supposed to be here. Had Henry lied to him?

"Travis?" That voice caught him by surprise. That French accent made him assume it was the bastard who'd been calling him. But when he turned, it was Sylvia. Standing there right in front of him. She hadn't spoken to him in days, seen him or answered his calls. But there she was right now. Travis wasn't sure whether to be happy or punch her for her bullshit.

"You gonna explain this to me now? Why you've been avoiding me?" Sylvia looked down as if embarrassed.

"Yes…Travis, I am sorry." Travis raised an eyebrow. Sylvia being straightforward? Something wasn't right here. "You see… when the UAA collapsed and I had to take that job… I felt ashamed to ever face you again."

"But I came and took you away from there." He replied.

"I know…but it scarred me… seeing the shit that happens in places like that. It's…indescribable…" Travis' stare softened.

"I'm still here for you Sylvia. Don't be stupid." She looked up to him, smiling honestly instead of that tricky devious smile she usually wore.

"Travis…" she walked closer to him and let him embrace her, wrapping her arms around him. Travis held her tight, hand stroking through her hair slighty… he spotted a glint in her left hand. What could that be, he though. Holy shit it was a knife! She raised her arm to stab him, but Travis quickly shoved her away before she could strike. That sickly devious smile returned to her face as she flipped the knife in her hand so it could be used in a more combative way.

"Oh you bitch! You complete and utter bitch!" Travis was furious now, she'd been tricking him all along just to kill him. He drew his beam katana. This time he wasn't going to let his feelings get in the way. He raised his katana, uttered a loud battle cry and charged at her, eyes going bloodshot and knuckles going white from gripping his weapon. She just waited for him and smiled. That sickly, devious smile. He was about to strike, when suddenly she whipped out a revolver with her free hand and shot at him. Travis quickly blocked it, but it gave her time to come at him with another stab. Travis side stepped quickly as the knife sliced through the air. Suddenly, Sylvia's face faded and became something different. Something red. Her whole outfit faded into a smart red suit, and her face became a red mask covering a man's face, only showing his eyes and mouth. He stepped back from Travis and smiled. Travis' eye twitched.

"You are easy to fool Mr Touchdown." He taunted. His smug voice made Travis growl at him.

"So…that's a neat trick you can do."

"Indeed it is. Usually makes the battles go by much swifter." He clicked the butterfly knife so the blade was back inside the handle. "Except in your case."

"Why'd you pose as Sylvia?" he snorted at him.

"Because I knew it would get a reaction out of you Mr Touchdown. Make you angry."

"And why the fuck do you want me to be angry?"

"In anger, you lose sight of all sense of strategy and become a wild animal. Powerful, yes, but easy to kill with a bit of thought." He smirked. Travis twitched again.

"Well fuck that, I'm not angry anymore." He said triumphantly.

"Oh you will be. Check that folder by your feet." Travis looked down and spotted a brown folder resting against his leg. How had he not noticed that earlier? He picked it up and flipped it open. Almost instantly his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. There were photographs in the folder. Photographs of Sylvia sharing a bed with the Spy. His teeth ground against each other as he crushed the cardboard folder and the photo's inside. The spy had succeeded in making him angry, but now he was going to die for it. "Mon petit cheu fleur is good non?" And then he snapped. He could hear a part of him break in two as he charged at the spy shouting a single curse.

"Fuck you!" He brought his katana down on the Spy, but when he looked up, he had vanished. There was nothing there. He straightened up and looked around, turning his body in different directions. The spy was nowhere to be seen. He kept his guard up. He had to be here somewhere…

"Peekaboo!" came a voice from his left, followed by a gunshot, as the Spy revealed himself to attack. Travis blocked his first shot, then the following three as he ran at him. The Spy adjusted his collar and then vanished again. Travis swore as his beam katana hit nothing but air. He looked around again, looking for any sign of where the Spy could possibly be.

He spun and slashed behind him as the Spy attempted another backstab. Their blades met and he backed off once again, vanishing. Travis looked around him. He'd slip up eventually. He had to stop him from vanishing. But how? He didn't even know where he was.

"Surprise!" he announced, appearing on his left and firing five shots. Travis blocked four, but the fifth buried in his shoulder. He grunted in pain and put a hand on his bleeding wound, allowing the Spy to get close for another attempt at a stab. Travis grimaced and kicked him in the stomach as he got too close, catching him off guard and giving Travis time to strike back, making a deep gash across the Spy's stomach. The Spy stumbled back, groaning from his wound, quickly disappearing again. Travis swore and kept his eyes open, looking for his elusive foe. Then he spotted it. Footprints. The one thing the Spy couldn't hide from him. They were only there for a moment but he could see them. So…

The Spy reappeared again, but this time Travis beat him to the punch and slashed at him quickly, forcing him to block with his knife. Travis kept on him, hacking away, trying to cut him down then and there. The Spy kept backing up, using his knife to block, then vanishing again. He quickly skirted around Travis to attempt another backstab.

But Travis could spot him now, and was easily able to turn around and stop him. With a strong horizontal slash, he knocked the knife out of the Frenchman's hands. He mumbled something in annoyance and drew his revolver, shooting at Travis while backing away. Travis chased him down, blocking his shots, but the distance between them was growing rapidly. The Spy took another shot and became invisible again, running for it. Travis followed him quickly, keeping an eye on his footprints. Then they reached the pavement. Solid stable terrain that didn't leave footprints. Travis cursed loudly. His opponent had escaped and now he was forced into defence again. Wherever he was, he could get attacked all too easily. He advanced up the stone walkway, continuously looking behind him, beam katana waiting to strike. He felt nervous. He wasn't going to admit it but he was. He didn't know where the smug French bastard was or how he was going to defeat him now. He had the upper hand. Travis sighed and continued advancing, walking past a pedestrian who paid him no heed. His brow furrowed. He had to find the guy soon or…

He felt the barrel of the Spy's revolver press into the back of his head.

"It seems this is game over Mr Touchdown." He said smugly. Travis unleashed a string of curses, letting his arms fall to his sides. How had he let this happen? Then it hit him…the pedestrian… another of the Spy's disguises? "So…do you have any last words?" his revolver clicked, ready to open fire. Travis' brain whirled for a moment.

"Just two…" he mumbled quietly. Suddenly, before the Spy could react, Travis raised his right leg and kicked him in the groin. The Spy cried out in pain and stumbled back, bending over forwards. Travis turned to him.

"Fuck! You!" he screamed at the top of his lungs as he decapitated the Spy, slicing his head clean off. But Travis wasn't done yet. He kicked the body so it stood upright and continued slashing, slicing the Spy to pieces until he was just a small mound of body parts on the concrete pavement.

Travis breathed heavily, relieved to get all of that rage out in one strike. He felt better for besting the smug bastard. Then his mind wandered back to the pictures. Sylvia and the Spy…was that it? Was that why she had been avoiding him? It would make sense in context…

He decided that now wasn't the best time to think about it. He kicked one of the Spy's arms and left for the bar.

Meanwhile on the other side of the city, a bulky man was sitting in his office watching the kill with the help of a street camera. He grumbled as he watched the Spy fall.

"He's at the top match now…" he muttered to the woman watching beside him, who couldn't help but flinch watching the Spy get mutilated.

"He won't win… If your number one is as tough as you say he is then Travis has no chace. And besides, you said you had a special surprise for him.

"I do." he agreed. "But I thought he'd be dead by now. And my guy is a onetime deal, I won't be able to resurrect him again until next year if he loses." He rubbed his nose and his moustache. Sylvia looked at Travis leaving the screen.

"Relax… Travis won't even get to him, let alone defeat him."


	12. Chapter 12: King of the hill

Chapter 12: King of the hill

**Rank 1: ?**

"You've come far Herr Touchdown." The Medic complimented as he fixed up Travis' wounds from his last fight. "Surely that's enough to make you happy?"

"No… not right now it isn't." he sighed, chugging down his drink. "Sylvia's still with him…"

"How do you know ze photos are genuine?" The Medic asked. Travis thought a moment. Could the Spy have just faked them? It was possible… Travis had found out he was the kind of person to use cheap tricks on his opponents.

"I…don't I guess."

"Zen you have no need to worry!"

"But Syl's not talked to me in ages… not even to tell me my rank matches."

"I'm sure she's just busy." The Germanic doctor assured.

"I hope so…" Travis grumbled. The air around him felt dense. As if trying to compress him, trap him, ensnare him. Travis didn't like it. Then the phone rang and he forgot about it. The Medic answered for him.

"Ja?" he said initially. He then passed the phone to Travis.

"Travis?" came that silky French voice.

"Sylvia?" he replied in confusion.

"The last match is set up." She said, cutting straight to business.

"Oh yeah? Well before you tell me, I want you to answer me something." Sylvia went silent at the other end.

"What?"

"Did you have sex with that French bastard?" No reply. "Well?"

"What's made you ask this?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe the goddamn pictures he took of it!" He heard Sylvia mumble something along the lines of

"He never told me that…."

"So it's true? You're with him now?" he demanded through the phone. Sylvia was silent for a minute.

"…head to Mann Manor atop the hill. Kill the first ranked assassin and I will tell you all." And she promptly hung up.

"Sylvia!" Travis bellowed, hurling the phone across the room. The Medic patted his shoulder.

"You heard her. We should head to Mann Manor." This broke Travis' line of though as he looked at his friend.

"We? Why we?"

"Because… I have a feeling you're going to need me to get up that hill." He scratched his nose as if irritated.

"What do you mean?" Travis asked.

"I overheard Mr Hale the other day in his office. He mentioned something about having a surprise waiting for you."

"Mr Hale? You mean the guy who runs Mann. Co?"

"Yes. I get the feeling he doesn't want you to reach the top."

"Well I don't give a shit what he wants." Travis got up and drew Team Killer.

"Let's go Doc…" and with that, he headed out toward the hill, the white coated doctor following suit.

The hill was on the east of town, and it was more of a mountain than it was a hill. Travis squinted to see the summit, spotting what looked like a large building. The Medic had his medigun switched on, healing Travis. He couldn't help but wonder why his final opponent had chosen such a high battleground though. Maybe he could fly or something. Travis continued to wonder as he began his ascent of the hill. It was rather steep, so sometimes he had to crawl over large jutting rocky outcrops to continue up, the Medic always just a few steps behind. Then, as he was about halfway up, he heard a beeping sound from his left. He turned and looked. It was a sentry, identical to the ones that hardhat guy had used.

"Zat's a sentry… but vat's it doing here?"

"Seems like someone's out for revenge…" Travis mumbled, suspecting that the sentry's builder wasn't far away. In any case, he had to take it out. While he trusted the medigun's healing powers, he doubted it'd be able to heal him from rockets. He'd have to be sneaky to take this one out. Travis sheathed Team killer and moved to under the outcrop the sentry was on. He snuck around beneath it, behind another large collection of rocks, peering over them. The sentry had yet to notice them. Travis picked up a rock near his foot and tossed it in front of the sentry. The sentry beeped and shot at it, giving Travis time to jump up and slash it in half. The Sentry fell apart and Travis stood triumphant. He looked back up to the top of the hill. He motioned for the Medic to join him and continued up towards the summit. Suddenly from above, he spotted a rocket shooting down towards him. Thinking fast, Travis jumped to one side of it, his white coated friend following suit. Two more rockets show down at him, forcing Travis to leap sideways once again. He couldn't see who was shooting at him, but he had a good idea.

Eventually, after more rocket dodging, they reached the top of the massive mound of earth. Up ahead, he could see Mann Manor, directly in front of the setting sun. It looked rather grand and even somewhat mysterious. There was a wooden wall circling it, broken only by a gap. Travis approached said gap when he suddenly heard a battle cry from the gate. And it was that eight men, all of whom Travis knew, all of whom he had killed, all of whom were wearing red, stepped out of hiding and into plain view at the assassin before them. They were led by the Heavy Weapons guy, holding his massive chain gun ready. The Soldier was on his left, rocket launcher trained on Travis. The Scout was on his immediate left, ready with his metal bat and the Engineer has a shotgun aimed at him. The Demoman was swigging from a brown glass bottle on the right of the Heavy, and the Pyro was clutching his flamethrower, keeping his eyes on Travis. And Travis even spotted a familiar red dot on his forehead, spotting the Sniper nearby. Travis' brow furrowed

"So…none of you can let it go huh? You all want another shot?"

"It's not that dumbass." Interrupted the Scout. "This time we're being paid to take you down!"

"Oh?" Travis raised an eyebrow.

"The rank one assassin decided we should kill you for him!" laughed the Heavy.

"And he offered us a nice sum in return." Chuckled the Engineer.

"And here I thought you guys had some class…" mocked Travis.

"Shut up and die maggot!" shouted the Soldier, as he let loose a rocket against Travis. Travis looked back at the Medic, and his medigun fully charged. He gave a single nod before the rocket his, creating a massive cloud of smoke.

When the smoke cleared, Travis emerged from the cloud, glowing red, beam katana out, charging at the red team shouting.

"Fuckers!" The red team gave another battle cry and charged at him. The Scout was first to meet Travis head on, swinging his metal bat at his face. Travis was too quick and blocked him immediately, then proceeding to slice the Scout's stomach open. The Pyro was next, torching Travis. The Ubercharge kept him well healed as he quick dispatched the Pyro, sending his gas mask covered head flying. He felt multiple bullets ramming into him, despite how impervious he was to them, as he charged at the Soldier and sliced him in two. He spotted the Engineer off to his left, unloading round after round into him. Travis grinned and quickly stabbed him, before moving onto the Heavy, bisecting him down the middle in seconds. As Travis charged at the Demoman, he noticed his body was flickering between its natural state and the Ubercharge state. He didn't have long left. While the Demoman attempted to blow him up with sticky mines, Travis chased him down and slashed at him, only to have him block. That was when the Ubercharge faded. Travis swore loudly as he cut off the Demoman's head, then leaped behind some cover to avoid the Snipers shot. He'd been hoping the Ubercharge would last longer than that. But no matter now. He'd have to surprise the Sniper. He peeked out for a moment to check out his position. He was at the top of an old water tower. The only way up was the ladder. That was out of the question, the Sniper could easily shoot him while he was climbing. Travis looked at the legs of the tower. They were wooden, old and most likely rotten. An idea creeped into Travis' head, causing him to grin like a madman.

The Sniper didn't realise the tower was falling when he heard a strange slashing sound beneath him. He also didn't realise the tower was falling when he heard a loud creaking sound beneath him. But he did realise the tower was falling when it actually started falling. He cried out and jumped off the debris, giving Travis the opportunity he needed, slashing the Australian man as he fell, cleaving him in two.

"Looks like we win Doctor…" said Travis to his companion.

"Um ja! Of course ve did!" said his white coated friend, standing behind him… not holding his medigun. Travis stared at him for a moment… then slashed his head clean off. The disguise faded and he saw it was in fact, the Spy.

"Fooled me once… but not again fuckface." Travis kicked the body with a sense of triumph, then spotting the body of the real Doctor, suffering from a stab in the back. Travis knelt next to him as his friend looked up.

"Herr Touchdown…you go…kill the ranked one assassin…I vill be fine…" he gave a half hearted smile.

"What about your Medigun?" Travis suggested, looking around for it.

"Nein… I'm too close to death…nein worries though, I vill respawn and see you later…" he promised. Travis nodded.

"Later doc…" he got back to his feet and continued onwards towards the manor. As Travis looked it over, he spotted a large amount of pumpkins, glowing in the looming darkness of the night. He wondered briefly why they were there, before passing under a large stone archway. Then he entered the manor itself, noting that the building was ancient, rotting wood and stained walls being the main signs of this. He reached a large square room, small entrances dotted around the walls, and even a stairwell above him led higher up. And right in the middle, surrounded by an almost completely broken wooden floor, was a large metal disc with a red glowing light in its centre. Travis stared at it wondering what it could possibly be. That, was when it emerged from the metal disc.

It started with the smoke emerging from the centre, swarming up like a storm. A figure rose up out of the smoke, standing on the point. Travis' gulped as he looked over the looming figure. His clothes were rather tattered, leaving his legs and arms bare, covering his chest. He wore thick heavy leather boots and large leather gloves. His arms were not covered by skin, all that was there was bones, connected together. His head was a large pumpkin, starting to rot, cut to give him a horrible glowing grin and eyes. And in his hands, sat a large metal axe, stained with blood from no doubt years of use. The skeletal figure rose up, standing tall, and let out a round of wicked laughter. Travis' eyes widened.

"You've got to be shitting me…"


	13. Chapter 13: Beyond the grave

Chapter 13: Beyond the grave

**Rank 1: The Horseless Headless Horsemann**

"**Mwahahahahahaha!"**

Travis stared at his pumpkin headed opponent. He'd faced some weird shit in the past but this guy has taken the cake. An undead fat guy with a flamethrower was one thing, but an skeletal head chopper? That just blew his mind. The Horsemann was grinning at him, his axe itching to dig into him.

"Fuck… how'd they even get something like you into the ranks?" The Horsemann didn't answer, but he was clearly getting restless, his bones twitching ever so slightly. Travis grinned. "Alright…" he drew team killer. "Bring it on pumpkin face!"

However, Travis hadn't expected the Horsemann to take him up on his offer so quickly, as the Horsemann charged at him, axe ready to strike. Travis managed to block as the axe came down at him, but now they were locked in a clash. The Horsemann was surprisingly strong, pushing down his axe against Travis' beam katana, forcing him to crouch slightly to withstand the pressure. Travis grimaced and weighed his options quickly. He lifted his left leg and delivered a swift kick to the Horsemann's left leg. Travis thought the bones would break apart, but it barely did anything. It did however make the Horsemann let up for a second so Travis could push him back and even get a slash in one his chest. Some of his shirt tore and Travis could spy his ribcage. He couldn't help but back off a little. The Horsemann brought his axe down at him again, but this time Travis chose to dodge and slashed at his left arm, cleaving through the Horsemann's bony right arm. He seemed to groan as the bony limb hit the floor. Travis grinned. He had a way to fight back.

The Horsemann laughed maniacally again, and hacked at Travis again and again, Travis only just blocking each time. He spied an opening, quickly skidded to the right and then slashed the Horseman's other arm, making him drop is weapon. The Horsemann growled again and backed up slightly. Travis felt cocky as he got closer to it.

"What's wrong? Feeling helpless without that axe of yours?" he sneered as he drew closer, ready to end the fight in one last strike. But suddenly, the Horsemann began to cackle again as a strange purple mist swirled around his disjoined limbs, bringing them back up to the body and reattaching them perfectly. The Horsemann had his axe ready again and advanced on Travis, satisfied that the tables had turned in it's favour.

"Fuck…" Travis mumbled, backing away from the oncoming skeletal creature. He swung his axe again, this time Travis dodged out of the way, taking another strike at his legs, cleaving one straight off, hoping to gain some advantage. But almost instantly, the purple smoke surrounded the Horsemann's leg and reattached it, as he gave another menacing cackle. Travis decided to turn and run for it, but the Horsemann gave chase, keeping close to him, axe raised above his head ready to strike him down. Travis darted around a corner and up some old wooden stairs, hearing the Horsemann's heavy boots behind him, letting him know he was keeping up. Travis' brain whirled for some form of strategy to defeat the Horsemann. The guy's limbs would just keep reattaching unless he could find some kind of weakness. But what kind of a weakness could an undead skeletal head chopper have?

The Horsemann was getting closer by the second, his big heavy boots stomping after the fleeing assassin who was racking his brains for a plan. His train of thought crashed as he ducked under the Horsemann's deadly axe.

"Oh just fuck off!" Travis yelled, spinning and stabbing the Horsemann through the chest. He grimaced slightly as he realised his beam katana has stabbed right through the Horsemann's ribcage, but nothing else. There were no organs. He hadn't even broken any of the bones. The Horsemann cackled once again and grabbed Travis by the neck with his spare hand, lifting him up. Travis struggled to get free, but his weapon was stuck in the Horsemann's chest, leaving him defenceless. The Horsemann lifted him up, close to his pumpkin head, cackling maniacally. He then flung Travis up high and grabbed his axe, ready to cut him in two. Travis flew up, trying to air swim out of the Horsemann's range, but to no avail. He found himself falling, headfirst towards the Horsemann's waiting axe. He felt helpless. He didn't want to admit it to himself but he did. That was when it happened. An idea sparked in his head. He wasn't dead yet!

As he fell close, the Horsemann swung his axe at him. Travis quickly flipped himself in mid air so he could land his foot on the Horsemann's head, causing a growl of pain from the axe swinger, and then leapt off again quickly as the axe swung beneath him. He landed behind the Horsemann, and reached into his ribcage, reclaiming his beam katana before the undead head chopper turned on him furiously. Travis smiled. He'd noted it's growl when he landed on it's head. He'd found a weak spot. Now he had a chance.

The Horsemann came rushing at him again. This time, Travis held his ground. He was going to end this in one final blow. The Horsemann swung down at him, Travis stepped back, letting the might axe embed itself in the ground. Travis leapt atop it as the Horsemann brought it back up, as he leapt into the air, this time of his own accord. As he came back down, he prepared team killer.

"See you in hell fuckface!" he shouted as he came down, his weapon slicing into the pumpkin head of the ghastly creature. But it didn't stop there. Travis continued to fall, his beam katana bisecting the Horsemann right down the centre in perfect fashion, severing both halves of his body. The halves fell to the ground as the Horsemann let out a horrid growl of defeat. Travis could swear he heard some organ music playing as the deadly ghoul finally died. He looked back at what was left of the Horsemann. Just some bones and his pumpkin head. Travis grinned and delivered an almighty kick to it, splattering it across the ground. He'd done it. He'd topped the ranks yet again. It was then he spotted Sylvia from across the dusty courtyard. She was watching, her eyes wide in surprise. Was it as his victory? He ran over quickly.

"Sylvia!"

"Travis…" she looked annoyed.

"So. Is it really you this time?" he still had team killer ready, just in case.

"Yes. No tricks." She admitted.

"So, is it true? Are you really seeing him?" Sylvia sighed.

"Travis… please understand that I can't be bound to one man. I need variety."

"Variety… that's your excuse?" Travis frowned. Sylvia looked away, not sure how to continue.

"In any case…congratulations are in order. You topped the ranks again."

"Yeah. No big deal." He said, cocky as all hell.

"Oh I almost forgot…Mr Hale himself wants to see you/"

"Mr Hale? The guy who runs Mann co.?"

"The very same…" she nodded to confirm. Travis walked past her, but stopped and looked back.

"I'll come talk to you later Syl. You know how I still feel about you." And then he walked on. Sylvia looked at the splattered remains of the pumpkin headed Horsemann.

"I know all too well…"

Travis trekked across town to the Mann co. building, walking inside through some automatic double doors. The inside had some dull grey floors and red walls. He noticed a few familiar faces. The Soldier was standing at a desk, talking to the secretary. Travis didn't catch much of what he said, but it sounded like.

"But I spent ages earning up this metal, and all I get is a ?" Travis chuckled and walked over to the elevator, hitting a button that had SH on it, glowing brightly. Travis raised an eyebrow at it as the elevator went up to the top floor, opening the doors into a long hallway, with a set of metal double doors at the end. Travis strode to the end of it and knocked.

"Come in." came a voice from the room ahead. Travis opened the doors and entered the room. It was an office room with red walls, lined with various photo's of the same shirtless man performing numerous amazing feats, including wrestling a bear and a shark. There were also a few trophies dotted along the walls, some from animals. The man waiting for him at the front desk was the very man from those pictures. He was wearing a brown flat brimmed hat with crocodile teeth wrapped around it. His big bushy moustache twitched slightly as he looked at Travis, resting his square chin on his hands. "Siddown boy." he half asked half commanded. Travis raised an eyebrow and sat down opposite him. "So you topped the ranks."

"Yup. Cut up every one of them." Travis grinned at his gloating. Saxton did not.

"You have no idea what you've done, do you?" Travis raised an eyebrow.

"I killed some assassins?"

"Not just that. You destroyed Silas Mann."

"Silas Mann? I didn't kill anyone called that!"

"Oh but you did...he was your last opponent." Travis' eye's widened.

"You mean...that skeletal pumpkin head?"

"Yeah. Took us ages to ressurect him too." Saxton grumbled.

"Ressurect? Eh, fuck it, you gonna explain that to me?" Saxton nodded.

"The Horsemann was going to be our big advertising point. We already had the posters and adverts ready for 'Challenge the Horsemann' to avertise the leagues. The televised matches weren't enough it seems."

"Televised? You mean the ranking matches are being televised?"

"Mhm. Good way of advertising. Both for Mann co. and the UAA. Course, i had to get the Spy with that dumb blonde for her to notice us." Something inside of Travis snapped as he put two and two together.

"You... you sent that smug bastard to seduce her...just for your fucking business?"

"Indeed i did. And you killed our main advertisement." he countered, making a pyramid out of his fingers. "But you know... i do see a good way out of this for both of us." Travis arched an eyebrow over his creased forehead.

"And that is?"

"If i kill you now, i can become the number 1 assassin. Then i can use myself for advertisement. " Travis wasn't sure how to respond at first. He thought about laughing for how stupid an idea that was, but something about Saxton's face told him he was serious. Then a grin crept upon his square jaws. "Yeah... i like that idea."

And before Travis could react, the large burly man vaulted over the desk, using his other hand to deliver a punch straight to Travis' face, all while shouting

"SAXTON HAAAAAAAALE!"

(Sorry about not uploading this earlier, i was having a few problems thinking of how to wrap this story up. Only two more chapters now. Stay tuned readers ^^ )


	14. Chapter 14: For the money

Chapter 14: For the money

**Challenger: Saxton Hale**

"**I'll kill you with my bare hands!"**

Travis let out a burst of breath as the larger man's fist connected with his chest, sending him flying back off his chair and out of those big double doors. The strength of the punch astounded him as he hit the ground and rolled onto his side. He wheezed, gasping for breath, struggling to get back up as the large Australian man approached him, a smug grin adorning his square face. The young assassin got back up, glaring at the burly brawler approaching him. His teeth ground together as he drew his beam katana, holding the powerful blade upright.

"You're not going to do that again fuckface…"

"So you say Travis. But we'll see." He brought his fists up, ready to make another punch. Travis smirked. How much of a chance did this guy think he had? He was using his fists against a beam katana. It seemed like an obvious choice for who would win. True, he'd gotten the first hit, but that was only using surprise. In a straight up fight, Travis was certain he'd win. He ran at Saxton, aiming to stab him in the chest and end their fight quickly. But Saxton had other ideas. He ducked to Travis' left and socked him in the face, sending him stumbling back, clutching his newly broken nose as blood streamed down his face. Saxton grinned and scored another punch to Travis' chest, sending him flying into the wall. Travis coughed up a little before falling back to the ground. Saxton crossed his arms, looking down almost pitifully on the younger man.

"Had enough yet?" Travis got back up, wiping the blood from under his nose with his sleeve and readying Team Killer again.

"Not by a longshot." He grinned, welcoming the Australian's challenge. This time, he tried goading Saxton into striking first, standing opposite him, grinning in a cocky manner. Eventually the Australian gave in and ran at him, fist raised for another punch to Travis' face. Travis ducked under his strike and tried to bring Team Killer up to slash his thick neck. But Saxton beat him to it, grabbing his occupied hand and crushing it in his grip. Travis flinched and he felt the weapon drop from his hand. Then he felt the man's other hand grab him by the head and fling him into the now open elevator doors, smashing into the metal.

Travis felt his head swimming. His face and chest were aching. His hand hurt, he'd dropped his weapon and now the brawny brawler was bearing down on him again. Travis spat out a curse and righted himself again, determined not to be beaten by the muscle-bound man he faced. Saxton was charging at him, this time wanting to finish Travis off no doubt. But Travis had a plan. He was going to think his way out of this, rather than just using his usual hack and slash method. As Travis got close, Travis ducked out of the way and his fist hit the metal wall, making a clear dent. Whilst he was distracted, Travis slipped past him and grabbed his beam katana, turning to run back into the elevator, as Saxton turned to face him. Travis slammed the down button on the elevator, shutting the doors before Saxton could stop them. Travis leant against a wall. This wouldn't stop him for long, but it gave him some time to think of a strategy and recuperate from his injuries. He breathed deeply, shutting his eyes and letting the pain slip away. But a loud banging from the elevator drew his attention away. He watched in horror as the elevator doors were blasted apart as Saxton Hale kicked his way through them, standing before Travis once again. He grinned.

"You're dead now son." He sneered, charging at Travis again. Travis stood and waited. He still had no idea how to fight this giant of a man, but for now, he could at least hold him off.

Travis ducked under Saxton's punch, trying to go for the body this time, only for Saxton to grab his hand again. But this time, Travis dropped his beam katana, with his other hand waiting beneath, then slashing at the man's legs. He heard Saxton grunt as he pushed Travis back. The Australian now had a gash on his left leg. Travis smiled. He was starting to turn this fight around. But then he noticed the man's face. He now had a face like thunder, glaring harshly at Travis.

"I'm gonna beat the living hell out of you!" he shouted, charging at Travis again. Travis prepared to duck under his fist again, but this time Saxton faked him out, instead kicking Team Killer right out of his hand, and then socking Travis in the face. Travis flew back, right into the elevator shaft. He cried out as he topped off the edge, only just managing to grab the ledge and cling on for dear life. The looming shape of Saxton filled the doorway above him, glaring down at him with a look of victory. He raised his left foot, preparing to stomp on Travis' fingers and send him plummeting to his death. Travis brain whirled as he tried to think of some way to escape this fate. An idea formed in his head, just as the larger man's boot came down on his fingers. He let go with one hand for a moment as Saxton's foot hit the floor, then he grabbed his ankle, pulling the larger man into the elevator shaft with him. Saxton cried out in surprise as he found himself tumbling forward into the elevator shaft, head first no less. Travis watched him fall, but quickly climbed out himself, back out into the hall. He was convinced he'd done it. Not even a man like Saxton would survive a fall like that, right? But a horrible clanging from the elevator shaft proved him wrong. He looked back into that long dark drop, and spotted the burly man clinging to one of the walls, climbing his way back up, face filled with white hot fury. Travis grimaced and quickly reclaimed Team Killer, knowing this fight wasn't over yet. He decided there was only one way to finish Saxton off for good.

Travis turned towards the elevator shaft and took a flying leap into it, stabbing down with his beam katana as he fell, hoping to impale the brawny man climbing up to kill him. But Saxton saw it coming and leapt to the opposite wall to avoid him, scoring a kick to Travis head as he passed him. Travis, realising his plan had failed, stabbed Team Killer into the wall to stop himself falling any further, looking up at the Australian.

"Well…this looks like a stalemate." He admitted.

"Not for long!" Saxton shouted as he let go of the wall and fell down to Travis, foot aimed for his head. Travis' eyes widened and he quickly tried to yank his beam katana out of the wall. But it was stuck fast. Travis cursed loudly and did the only thing he could. He let go and began to fall.

He grabbed Saxton's foot as they fell, using it to pull him down for a few punches to the face. Saxton retaliated by punching Travis' chest, but Travis just socked him in the face again, grinning as he felt a bone in Saxton's jaw break. This angered the Australian even more, and he swung a left hook at him, smacking him in the cheek. Travis grimaced but kicked the Australian's stomach for revenge. They continued to brawl, falling ever downward in the deep elevator shaft. Then they noticed the elevator below them. It was rising back up. They both looked at each other and tried to grab onto the walls to slow their fall. They only just managed and landed on the rising elevator with a loud thump, no doubt startling whoever was using it. They both eyed each other up and the fists began to fly again. Saxton began to dominate Travis, being the stronger of the two and now being on suitable terrain. He smashed Travis into the wall a number of times, noting that his body was now covered in cuts and bruises. Travis ducked under one of his punches and rolled to another corner of the elevator roof, thankful that it was stopping at last. He grabbed the wall behind him and began to climb up, towards his beam katana still stuck in the wall. He knew if he could get it unstuck, this fight could change to his advantage.

"Get the hell back here!" he heard Saxton call from below, no doubt giving chase up the elevator shaft. But Travis ignored him and focused all his energy on climbing. He got higher and higher, ever closer to his desired weapon, the brawny brawler keeping up with him. Finally, he reached it and, getting a firm grasp on the handle, tugged on it hard, trying with all that was left of his energy to get it free. With a twist and another sharp tug, the blade at last came free. Travis grinned happily…but quickly realise the beam katana was the only thing keeping him on the wall. He was falling again. He passed the Australian on his way down as he flapped his arms comically, trying to regain some balance. He managed to grab a hold of the elevator cables as he fell, hurting his hand with the friction, but keeping him stable. He sighed with relief, before looking up to see the larger man hurtling down towards him again. Travis cursed again. He had an idea but he'd have to time this one just right if it was going to work. Saxton was flying down at him, fist ready to punch him in the head. At the last second, Travis spun round the cable to the other side and out of the way of Hale's fist.

"Whuh?" the Australian cried out in surprise, as he continued to fall, quickly hitting the elevator roof again. Travis looked down at him. And a grin crept onto his face. He was going to end this fight right now. He activated Team Killer for the final time, and with one quick slash, severed the cable before him, sending the elevator crashing down, Saxton along with it. He saw the two get smaller and smaller as they approached the ground. Then he let go of the cable, falling down towards the bottom of the shaft. He spotted Saxton lying flat against the elevator. It looked like a few of his bones had been broken on impact. Travis smiled and aimed his beam katana down at him, ready to deliver the final blow. Before Saxton could even try to move or stop him, the long shaft of energy pierced into his chest, through that mark in the shape of Australia, all the way through, out of his back and into the metal of the elevator. He gurgled and spluttered something as he made one last attempt to punch Travis, before he went still, blood spurting onto the elevator below him. Travis retracted his blade and turned to the top of the shaft, letting out a loud cry of victory, echoing around him in a glorious harmony.

Travis slipped through the elevator hatch and out into the hallway. Everyone stared at him on the ground floor. He was covered in bruises, lumps, cuts, marks and blood. But he didn't care. He'd beaten that brawny brainless man and he was fucking happy about it.


	15. Chapter 15: Ever again?

Chapter 15: Ever again?

As Travis stumbled out of the Mann co. building, clutching his arm, which felt much heavier than usual, he looked to the sky. It was a bright sunny day, only wispy clouds wavering across the bright sky. Travis felt peaceful. He felt triumphant. But he still had some issues to resolve. And he wouldn't be satisfied until he had his answers. Before he could execute any plans he had however, a familiar face greeted him, approaching slowly, wearing his classic white coat.

"Herr Touchdown! Vat happened to you?" The Medic asked.

"It's a long story." He smirked. "Let's walk and talk." The two set off for the local bar.

"So, you vent into Mann co. and took down Saxton himself?" The medic confirmed, as if he couldn't quite believe it.

"Yup. Tough fight for sure." He let out a sigh of relief as the medigun healed him up nicely. "That guy's insane. He punched me into a wall twice!"

"Ja vell, you're not ze first one to find zat out." The doctor commented.

"Oh?"

"Saxton haz a habit of getting angry eazily. He punches anyvone who brings him bad news."

"Geeze…that's a fucking attitude problem." Travis swigged at his drink. "Maybe I knocked his ego down a bit when I kicked his ass."

"Maybe." The medic smiled at the idea. "It'd make our vork a lot easier." Travis chuckled.

"So, what do you think will happen now?" The medic shrugged.

"Saxton vill probably leave you alone. Mann co. and ze UAA will continue to be business partnerz. Ze league will probably get more popular." He pondered. "Should aid ze economy."

"Yeah. This place has been in the shitter recently."

"Ja." He agreed. They both continued to chatter until the sun began to set behind them, creating a wonderful spectrum of light in the sky. Travis looked out the window at it and remembered something. "I gotta go. I've got a score to settle with someone."

"Ok. See you later Herr Touchdown." Travis smiled as he moved for the door.

"See ya doc."

When he left the bar, he found someone waiting outside for him. He had his grey coat on and his hair looked neat and well combed as usual.

"Hello brother." His Irish accent seemed stronger than ever today.

"Henry…the fuck do you want?"

"She sent me. Apparently I'm just used for messages nowadays." He grumbled. Travis smirked.

"She wants me?" Henry nodded in reply. Travis wondered if she was finally willing to talk to him about all this business with that stupid suited spy. Whether it was or it wasn't, he was glad she wanted to talk.

"Just get going. I need a drink." Travis grinned mockingly and moved past his brother. He watched him go with a stern glare. But he soon looked away and headed in for a long needed drink.

Travis strode up the road, heading to the UAA offices. He hadn't been here in a while. It made him think of his times in the ranks, battling to get to the top. Oddly fond memories filled his head of Sylvia. That time they'd shared together. That time they'd done it like dogs in heat. That time he took her from that dimly lit place where she'd talk to him about things he already knew. Travis scratched his head. Even to this day, he wasn't sure what it was about Sylvia that drove him wild. Granted, there were the looks of course, but there was something more to it. Something that kept bringing him back, making him addicted to her. He didn't know what it was. And he probably never would. But, fuck it, he was fine accepting that. He cleared his thoughts as he came to the elevator, heading up to the top floor, where Sylvia's office awaited him.

The blonde had been sitting in her office all night. Her window was situated at the front of the building so she'd seen Travis coming, clearly having gotten her message from her ex. She sighed quietly as he entered the building, turning in her chair to face the door and the oncoming storm. She'd been regretting this ever since she had started seeing the Frenchman in the smart suit. He knew he'd hate her for it. He knew he'd probably want to take his revenge. Right now she was banking on him still finding it hard to kill a woman. But the pistol in her drawer was there, just in case. She sat there, watching the door. Time seemed to stretch on for an eternity, as she waited for the inevitable. Then she heard him knock. Three times. Three loud bangs on the door.

"Come in…" she muttered. The door swung open and there he was. The crownless king. The otaku. Her otaku. He whom had been taunted, teased and betrayed. Now they stood, opposites of each other. Both of them waited for the other to make the first move. Deathly silence descended over the office as the two lovers stared at one another. Eventually, he broke the silence.

"So…you gonna come clean about all this crap now?" she nodded meekly, keeping one hand on the desk, close to the open drawer.

"I'm sure you know enough already…"

"Well, I just want some fucking clarification." He glared. "So tell me Sylvia. What's the deal with you and that suit wearing douche?" Sylvia let out a sigh.

"He seduced me… it's embarrassing really. The puppeteer becomes the puppet."

"And…did you actually-"

"Yes, we did…" she admitted almost shamefully. Travis twitched.

"So…he's better than me?"

"You're jumping to conclusions." She snapped, quickly cutting him off. "It happened but I thought nothing of it…"

"Then why do it all Sylvia?" his hand curled around the handle of his beam katana.

"I was…just…so alone." Travis hadn't expected that. "Before you came and saved me… everything in my life went to shit… the UAA was gone… i was jobless. And then…he came. He made me feel good Travis. Something I hadn't felt in a long time." She flexed her fingers slightly. "Then you came…and…I hoped you would never find out…but then he talked about Mann co." Travis nodded. Looks like Saxton was telling the truth after all. "He persuaded me to go to them. We became partners…and…the UAA was alive again…under one condition."

Travis raised an eyebrow, acting as if he didn't know what it was already. "And what was that?"

"That I stay with him Travis." Travis nodded. "I had no choice… I wanted to tell you…"

"You expect me to believe that shit?" He cut her off just as she'd done to him before. She looked up, glaring slightly.

"It's the truth…what more do you want?"

"I want to know why you didn't just fucking tell me! It's not like he had you at gun point!"

"You don't understand! Saxton's men were everywhere, if I'd said a word i-"

"Bullshit! Nothing but bullshit!" Travis drew Team Killer in a second and lunged at her. In response, Sylvia grabbed the pistol, took aim, and fired all in the space of seconds. The bang echoed in the offices, as employee's looked up from their work to locate the source of the noise.

The two stood there, facing each other. Travis' blade had blocked the bullet in time, stopped mid swing. Sylvia was still pointing the gun at him. They stood there in silence for a few moments. They stared into each other's eyes. Their fingers unclenched, and their respective weapons clattered on the ground. They fell into each other's arms, both looking at each other. Travis smiled.

"Let's never fight again, ok?" Sylvia nodded in reply, her eyelids somewhat lowered. Their lips met slowly, and they shared a passionate kiss, keeping hold of one another. They locked the door and drew the curtains, shutting out the world, and spent the night with each other, together in that small office. Together at last.

THE END

Addendum

Whew, would you look at that. Looking back over my past chapters, it's a little hard to believe I've written so much in the space of a few months. Anyway, I feel I've gone as far as I can with both No more heroes and TF2 so I've decided to end the story now before I run out of ideas. The ending is a little bit sappy, but I think it fits considering the nature of no more heroes and it ties up the last loose end of the story. Anyway, I'd like to thank anyone who's taken the time to read my story, anyone who's reviewed it or may do so in future, and just thank you for reading. Hope you all enjoyed. I'm going to focus on my other No more heroes fanfic now and I'm considering a legend of Zelda one in the future, so look out for now. Anyway, that's all for now. Thanks for reading ^^


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